It Doesn't Get Any Better
by Cats77
Summary: Bella and Alice had the job of their dreams even before they landed the contract to tour with Midnight Sun. They think that the biggest problem they'llface is keeping their relationships professional. Then, their past catches up with them. AU/AH B/E A/J
1. Chapter One: In The Dark

**A/N:** Many thanks to Moon108 for brainstorming, editing and generally helping to bring this story to life by encouraging me to stick with it.

I also need to thank my betas for this chapter, Brandy D and Ellecc. They have been very patient with my irrational fear of the comma, and have tried to spark my love affair with it. I pledge to do my best to give the comma acceptance and not fear the semicolon anymore!

Project Team Beta is a fantastic resource available to authors in need of Betas. You can find their website at ProjectTeamBeta(dot).com.

I have to voice my insecurity that this is my first attempt at writing. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated!

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

--==\\//==-

**Chapter One**

In The Dark

_Bella POV_

I cringed and knocked on the door. I knew that this action put my physical well being at risk, and it may possibly be the last thing I ever did. However, I had accepted the risk when I took the job, and this was no time for cowardice.

"Bella, dear, the red light is on. Fuck off," Alice hissed at me from the other side of the door.

"Alice, you know that I take the sanctity of your darkroom very seriously, seeing as it is directly tied with my good health, but Esme is on the phone. She needs to know when you'll have the proofs from the festival."

"Oh, tell her that I'm finishing them now, and I'll overnight them to her as soon as I'm done. Thanks, love," Alice cooed sweetly as I shook my head at her mood swings.

"Will do, please continue plotting to take over the world; I do know that's what you're really doing in there, you know." She gave me her best evil laugh, and I went back to my desk for the phone.

"She'll have them done any time now and we'll get them there overnight for nine am. There shouldn't be any issue with meeting the deadline. Are they okay with the composites for the backgrounds of the posters?"

"Of course they are." Esme said, her voice full of pride. "They always love the work you girls do."

"Great, anything we can do to make your life easier is always a good," I said laughing. "We seem to be gearing down on the workload though. Is there a break in the release schedule?"

"Not exactly…" Esme trailed off.

Esme never trailed off. "Esme, what's wrong? Or are you just plotting again?"

"Nothing is wrong, Bella."

"And that leaves us with plotting. So, what'cha plotting, Esme?" I smiled into the phone as I doodled circles on my desk blotter.

"You're so suspicious of me; what have I ever done to make you so jaded?" She pulled out her hurt and innocent voice, at which point I knew she had something big up her sleeve.

"Esme…"

"I think you guys should come up and meet me for dinner. How is your schedule next week?"

"Well, since you are a master schemer and probably have every level of this planned out down to our hotel booking, you know full well that next week is completely open for us."

"Well, it is polite to ask, Bella."

"Of course it is, Esme," I said with a chuckle. "How long are we staying, what are we doing and what do we need to bring?"

"You're coming up to meet with me for dinner on Monday. You have an appointment with a new client on Wednesday. After that, we'll see how it goes. Bring your portfolio and make sure you update it with the festival stuff you just did. You'll also want to prepare a proposal for these new clients."

I jotted down notes as Esme went through her list. "Okay, who are these new clients and what kind of tour is it? How many weeks?"

"Don't worry about any of that. Just do up a generic proposal. You can tweak it after we talk on Monday."

"But… Esme… I…"

"Close your mouth, Bella. I know you'd plan your bathroom breaks if you could, but you're going to have to wing it a bit on this one."

"I would not plan my bathroom breaks," I said acidly.

She laughed at me. "Fill Alice in and let me know by the end of the day if any of this is going to be a problem. I'll mail you the details for your hotel."

"The creature is emerging from her cave as we speak. I'll let her know and get back to you with an email in a few minutes."

Alice raised an eyebrow at me as I hung up. "Let me know what?"

I passed along the sketchy details Esme had given me.

"That's excellent! I love New York. I wonder if I can get in some shopping?"

"You're Alice, of course you can get in some shopping. If the entire city closed down and Godzilla attacked, you could still get in some shopping."

"Hmm, true." She pursed her lips and distractedly pondered my monitors. "Bella. move." She grabbed the back of my chair, launched me across the room and flew to my keyboard.

"You know I am capable of moving myself. If you gave me a second, I would've given you my chair."

"I have to check something… and I'm right! Midnight Sun is playing in New York next week! Esme can hook us up. They are one of her bands, after all. Maybe our curse is finally lifting."

As long as Alice and I had being working for Esme's company, First Sight Management, we had yet to reap the largest benefit (as we saw it anyway). We were huge fans of Midnight Sun, their most successful band. Without fail, every time there was a show in our area, we were somewhere else working another tour. Alice and I had given up hope of ever seeing them live and bitterly accepted our cursed fate as it was.

"Wait a minute, she wouldn't tell you the name of these new clients she was pimping us out to?" Alice frowned at me.

"No, but it can't be them, Alice. They've got to have their own people for this kind of stuff."

"It seems pretty coincidental to me. I think… no, I definitely have a feeling about this. A very good feeling!"

"Good feelings are good, we like good feelings. But maybe Esme is just going to give us a raise or something. If you don't get those proofs to her, however, she might not go through with whatever she's planning."

I knew enough not to question Alice's hunches; she was practically psychic. But there was good news and then there was _good news_. Working with Midnight Sun would be _beyond_ good news.

Alice called the courier for a pickup as I scanned in her negatives. My mind wandered while I worked, and I found that her enthusiasm was becoming infectious. "Can you imagine? Not that I haven't loved everything we've done so far, but getting to work at one of their shows would be insane."

"I'd have to avoid jumping Jasper; that would be a definite downside," she said as she frowned thoughtfully.

Alice was in love with Midnight Sun's lead singer, Jasper Whitlock. He was tall, blonde, gorgeous and had what Alice like to refer to as, "an ass chiseled by God himself." Okay, it wasn't so much love as it was lust.

I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. "Leave it to you to take a situation like this and boil it down to that within two minutes."

"Right, because you wouldn't be entertaining any Edward fantasies as we worked." I directed my attention back to my desk searching for something I could do furiously. Once again, my desk let me down.

"There is nothing wrong with admiring a perfect specimen of the male form," I said, deciding to adopt a defensive stance.

Okay, so maybe Alice wasn't the only one in lust. But Edward Masen was eye candy of the gourmet variety. He radiated the perfect balance of bad boy and gentleman. Plus, he played piano, for God sake. Just playing piano was enough for me. The fact that his fingers were so long and dexterous was strictly a bonus to my many fantasies…

"Bella, you're looking all hot and bothered… are you entertaining some fantasy right now, perhaps?" Alice shot me a knowing glance.

I coughed loudly. "So, about updating the portfolio… I was thinking of pulling these shows and adding these new ones to the video clips," I said pulling up the files on my computer. "Plus, I really liked the layout we did for this tour book. I thought we should include pages 14 and 25. Possibly 26 as well. What do you think?"

We worked on our portfolio, deciding what our best ideas had been over the past festival. Within an hour, we had gone over all the changes that needed to be made and split up the tasks. The standard proposal we used to present our work to new clients was a bit trickier. In the past, we considered our audience and tailored our presentation accordingly. Rock fans were not the same as R&B fans, and although, the same information was generally in there, the presentation was completely different.

"As I see it, we have three options," said Alice as we floundered back and forth on a plan for the third hour. "We can sit here and fret about it until we have to leave on Sunday, we can do up a generic presentation." We shuddered in tandem at that thought. "Or… we can just pretend we actually are presenting it to Midnight Sun and want to knock their socks off."

"But what if we do that and she has something totally different in mind?" I said with worry in my voice.

"Well, think about it. If we really were presenting it to them, wouldn't it be the best one we ever did? I know it's farfetched that we'll actually get to do that, but I'm telling you I have a feeling this is going to be good and it's going to be big. We are going to want this to be our best. I think this is the way to get there."

I thought about it, and really there was nothing to lose. It's not like Esme, or anyone else for that matter, would know what we had in mind while we were putting it together. "You're right, let's do it that way."

We worked solidly until Friday night, tweaking and perfecting our parts. When we were done, I had to agree with Alice. Our portfolio had never looked better, and the presentation was visually stunning.

Saturday was earmarked for us to pack. Well, I spent an hour in the morning packing, then sat in Alice's room and watched as she debated every piece of clothing and pair of shoes she might need for any given situation.

Sunday morning came in record time, and we found ourselves loaded up and in the car, getting comfortable for the six hour drive from Ashland, Virginia, to the Big Apple. We were settling into our road trip playlist when Alice told me that she had every minute of Monday planned, up to dinner with Esme. I was laughing until she handed me her printed schedule, complete with route information from store to store.

"You know, I think Esme only reserved one table at the restaurant. Where are all your bags going to sit?" I teased.

"Oh, don't worry, I left time for us to go back to the hotel and freshen up," she said brightly. I flipped to the sixth page and saw that indeed she had.

"Of course you did, and Esme thinks I'm the one who's hung up on scheduling." I rolled my eyes at the passenger window.

"I only worry about scheduling the important stuff."

A couple of hours later, we were listening to _Distorted Lullabies_ by Ours. We had switched off driving, and were currently singing along to the music at the top of our lungs. The best thing about road trips was the music. Although, I also loved driving up the coast in the spring; the trees were just starting to come back to life and the green sea of new foliage was breathtaking. I turned the radio down a bit and turned to Alice.

"Okay, you're going think this is entirely moronic, but I'm getting nervous."

She smiled at me.

"No, seriously, what if Midnight Sun is what Esme has planned, I mean…" I trailed off and shook my head.

"Esme has never pushed us too hard, Bella. If she is actually thinking of sending us out with them, then it's because she thinks we're ready for it. Besides, like you said, we don't even know what she's actually up to yet. Save your panic for tomorrow night."

"I'll get right on that," I muttered, readjusting the music.

--==\\//==--

I never understood how Alice could shop for hours and hours on end. It was as if she got more energy from each store. Either that, or she was sucking the energy straight from me, because I was exhausted.

"Please, Alice. Let me sit down for five minutes," I begged. "Just five minutes so I can check to see that I still have feet."

She sighed a long-suffering sigh. "Oh, Bella, you're so dramatic. We've only been shopping since nine and I did let you stop for lunch."

"It's four o'clock, Alice!"

"Your point?"

"Quite obviously I don't have one."

"Okay, I have a surprise for you if you're going to get all whiny on me…" I looked up, hopefully, as she continued. "I'm going to head into this store here, and I'm going to be a while. I figured by this time you'd be getting a little emo, on me so I thought maybe you might want to go to MoMA—it's just a block over."

I squealed and hugged her in delight; she knew how much I loved the Museum of Modern Art. The last time we were in NYC, I didn't have time to go. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"_But_," she said, and I froze as she continued. "I get to buy you an outfit for Wednesday's meeting."

I considered this; I would actually be pretty safe for this one. Alice and I were on the same page when it came to how we like to present ourselves at a first-time meeting, regardless of who the client was. At worst, I might end up in a skirt or a dress. "That sounds almost too reasonable," I said, wondering if there was a second part to this condition.

"You make it sound like I'm an unreasonable monster," she said as she huffed at me. "Go, before I change my mind. I'll meet you in the coffee shop there in an hour. We can take a break, then head back to the hotel and get ready to meet Esme at seven."

"See you there!" I called as I headed off and she breezed into the store.

--==\\//==-

_Alice POV_

"Esme!" We both squealed as the petite woman came into view. She ran over to us and swept us up in tight hugs. Although we were in contact with Esme almost daily for work, it had been almost a year since we'd seen her in person. Between our schedule touring and her long hours in the office, these kinds of meeting were rare.

In the three years that we had been working for First Sight Management, Esme had become like a mother to us. She was kind and caring by nature, and that took over as she watched out for us on the road. She always planned ahead for anything we might need and gave us a heads up when we were going to take on a particularly difficult manager or band member.

Bella had known her longer than I had. Esme approached Bella about a new kind of position she wanted to fill for her bands, and Bella had brought me onboard, thinking that pairing our skill sets would work even better for what Esme had in mind.

"How have you ladies been? Was the festival okay? Did you have to deal with Charles much? He's a misogynistic prick, but we don't get to choose the staff when we're not running the festival."

I laughed. Esme always seemed to be out of breath and in a rush, even when she was standing perfectly still. "The festival was fantastic. We took your warning and gave the festival director a wide berth. We didn't even have to talk to him. He just sat in production all day like that office chair was a throne. As long as we minimized our time in there, we had no problems."

She laughed. "Yeah, that's Charles. Sounds like he hasn't changed much."

"What about you, Esme? New bands? Projects? What's going on in the office?" Bella asked.

Esme updated us on the lives of her co-workers as the waiter took our drink orders and gave us menus. "We had to let Royce go. Well not 'let go' so much as have him arrested. He was pulling some scheme with the band accounts. Rosalie caught him at it. The accountants that are on it now think that it was caught in time, and no one is out too much money, but it's a major headache. Luckily, he isn't the brightest bulb in the box," she said absently, rubbing her forehead.

"I never liked him," I said. "I don't know why—he just gave me the creeps."

"Yeah, he wasn't exactly happy when he was arrested. The cops came for him at the office, so he didn't have a chance to do anything with his records at home. He definitely showed his true colors that day. I learned some new insults, and I deal with roadies daily!"

We all laughed and the waiter came back with drinks and salads and took our main course orders. Esme was starting on her salad as Bella finally lost patience.

"So, um Esme…" she started hesitantly.

"I'm impressed Bella, you lasted almost fifteen minutes!" she said, checking her watch. "You win, Alice."

"No fair with the timing and the betting!" She hissed at us, as we laughed.

"Okay, okay. Let's get it over with. As you know, I've been impressed with your work. You always seem to outdo yourselves, and you seem to be able to work with almost anyone, which is just as important. The very few complaints I've had were pretty transparent and from managers I don't like anyway," she trilled.

I was a little surprised that she got complaints, but then I remembered the stunt I pulled on the tour manager a couple of tours back. "Collin was never actually able to prove that was me. Beside he was a total dick. I was… I mean whoever did it was totally justified, in my opinion!"

Esme chuckled into her wine as she took a drink. "Don't worry. I got the whole story from some other people, I know that… the party in question was perfectly entitled."

This was just one of the many things I loved about Esme: she was fair. She knew the kind of crap we had to put up with from the crews and managers. We were young, female and attractive. These three things didn't usually lend themselves to people instantly respecting us or taking us seriously. Most people we ended up working with on the road were really good guys who were good at their jobs, but every once in a while we had the joy of dealing with a real piece of work.

She also knew that if you didn't push back and just took the crap, you didn't get any respect, and that made getting anything done next to impossible. It was a fine line, but we had learned to walk it pretty quickly.

"Anyway, like I was saying, you two have really shown yourselves to be trustworthy and dependable. I don't have to worry about chasing loose ends down when I put you on a job, and I'm going to need that and probably more on this next project."

Bella and I were excited. I'm sure Esme noticed since we'd stopped breathing and all. The corner of her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile.

"Okay, so here's the run down. It's a six month tour that is starting in two weeks in Chicago. You'll be all over the country, West Coast to the central area, then back to the East Coast working your way back to end in New York. It's going to be a huge workload. I'm going to want content for the website, merch, publicity and possibly some extras we'll need for a DVD. The tour is going to have two buses, including one for the band, the manager and a few of the techs. You'll be in the second bus with some of the crew and some extra people, who will be rotating on and off as they finish their prospective jobs with the tour. Basically, you'll be living out of the bus and hotel rooms for six months. I don't think I need to tell you guys anymore that it won't be glamorous. It will, however, be rewarding, and it will look amazing in your portfolio."

"Esme! _Who_?!" I said, a little too loudly. Some of the diners around us turned my way.

"Well, I've been working you guys up to this. You're wasted on my new bands now; they don't need all of the things you can do. So I want to put you on with our most popular band, Midnight Sun. I assume you know their stuff."

"Oh, yeah, we're familiar with it. We've followed their stuff for a few years now. We're kinda fans." Bella smiled calmly as she took a bite of her pasta.

Kinda fans, I smirked internally. Still I was impressed, she was rocking the calm façade.

"So, they've got a show tomorrow at Irving Plaza; I thought you might like to go and check out the set. Then between tomorrow morning and Wednesday afternoon, you can fine-tune your presentation for them."

Bella choked on her water.

"That is, of course, if you're interested. You might want to talk about it tonight and let me know tomorrow morning. I know it's all very last minute, but I was still putting it all together last week. I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure," Esme said worriedly.

I took the lead while thumping Bella on the back as she tried to remaster the basics of breathing. "No, no, Esme, it's fine. Of course we want to do it, no discussion necessary. You know Bella, she's just a little nervous about putting this all together on the fly."

Esme turned to Bella with that motherly look again. "You'll do fine, you always do!"

Bella nodded and gulped down more water.

"So then, we're a go on everything?" Esme questioned, looking between us.

"Definitely," we said together.

She laughed. "Okay then, for the show, doors are at eight. I couldn't get you great seats, it was too last minute. You're stuck with all the label stiffs in one of the balconies. You should still be able to get a good idea of their set and the feel of the crowd, though. I know you like to do your research. I'm not going have you meet the band tomorrow night. You know how it is with New York, everyone is sniffing around them and their schedule is tight. Plus, I'd rather have you all meet on Wednesday, when there are no distractions," she said, back into full work mode as she entered some details into her phone.

"Sounds good. We'll be ready, Esme. Thank you, really, you've been so good to us," Bella said, having recovered from her minor choking incident.

"You're going to be fantastic ladies, I just know it. They're going to absolutely love you!"

Bella and I managed to finish out the meal calmly picking Esme's brain about anything specific we should include or exclude from our presentation. My head was screaming in excitement, and it was all I could do to stay still in my seat. I vaguely wondered if either one of us was going to sleep between now and Wednesday.

--==\\//==--


	2. Chapter Two: Wednesday

Thank you to this chapter's betas, **sweetishbubble** and **blahblahblah**.

Project Team Beta is a fantastic resource available to authors in need of Betas. You can find their website at ProjectTeamBeta(dot).com.

I have to voice my insecurity that this is my first attempt at writing. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated!

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

--==\\//==-

Chapter Two

Wednesday

_Bella POV_

"Alice, stop fidgeting."

"You first." Her gaze fell to the pen I was molesting.

The last two days had been a whirlwind. After our dinner with Esme on Monday night, Alice and I returned to the hotel. We spent a few hours coming to terms with the events of the evening. It may need to be noted that 'coming to terms' included a lot of swearing, some hyperventilating, and a stop at a liquor store on the way back to the hotel. The time seemed to oscillate wildly between crawling so slowly it seemed Wednesday would never come, and speeding by so fast we'd felt there just wasn't enough time to be properly prepared.

The show last night had been amazing. Midnight Sun's stage set up was simple. Just the three band members, their instruments, and some wicked lighting. They seemed to set a mood rather than rely heavily on gimmicks like pyrotechnics. The band connected well with their audience. Even though there were almost two thousand people at the sold out show, the energy in the cavernous venue was palpable.

The audience was fairly diverse. There were the teeny-boppers holding up signs saying "Marry me, Jasper," but they were definitely outnumbered by the throngs of fans that seemed to be there for the music and sang along with every song, radio hit or otherwise.

Alice and I were all smiles and quietly exchanging memories of the previous night when the door opened and Esme led the band into the small boardroom. She shot us a confident and reassuring smile that said, this will be okay, relax. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I looked over at Alice who returned the same forced calm.

Here we go, we said to each other silently.

We stood for introductions, as unnecessary as they were on their part.

Jasper Whitlock, the lead singer and bassist of Midnight Sun, extended his hand and smiled warmly. "You must be Bella and Alice, we've heard a lot about you both. Esme has many kind things to say."

I shot a smile at Esme and shifted automatically into professional mode. As much as we liked this band, this wasn't our first time 'round the block. We'd worked with other bands we'd admired, (and okay fine, to be fair lusted after, even if we were not quite on the same level) and it was just a matter of remembering they were people and this was a business meeting. That was always what I had told myself, and I hoped like hell it would keep my hands from shaking with nerves this time too.

Jasper was tall, lean, and even in his loose clothing you could see he was very muscular. His blond hair was shorn shaggily about his neck in a medium-long , messy style. He had sharp, chiseled features that gave him an almost aristocratic look, but his blue eyes were very warm and kind. I guessed him to be in his late twenties, maybe thirty, at most.

Edward Masen introduced himself next. Edward was responsible for guitars and keyboards in the Midnight Sun world. I smiled and let myself take in his appearance. He was almost as tall as Jasper, possibly just over six feet, and looked to be about the same age, maybe a year or two younger. His bronze hair was messy in way that couldn't be force d ; it just happened naturally. He was the picture of perfection with strong, angular features. I admired his cheekbones and his amazingly sexy jaw. I found myself wondering if a jaw could actually be sexy, and then berating myself for practically drooling over bone structure. That was when I noticed his eyes for the first time. I might have taken a moment too long to stare into the startlingly green depths, but no picture had ever managed to convey just how beautiful they actually were.

Professional, Bella, Professional, I chanted inwardly as I ripped myself away from those wonderful eyes and continued shaking hands.

Emmett McCarty gave off a fantastically upbeat and playful energy, the kind you'd probably expect from a drummer. His smile lit up his whole face and made his eyes shine. It was possible he was a several years younger than the other two, but that may have just been the air of youth and joy he radiated. His short dark hair lay flat against his scalp and he was huge. There was just no other word for it. He was a wall of muscle. I was quite sure he would be terrifying if he were angry but in the playful mood he was in now, I wouldn't have been surprise to see him grab someone and twirl them around in a massive bear hug. I immediately pictured him as a big brother, the kind that would mercilessly poke at his siblings for a laugh, but also protect them fiercely.

The fourth person to join the meeting was Midnight Sun's manager, Carlisle Cullen. If Emmett gave off the air of a big brother, Carlisle was definitely had a fatherly vibe. At about 35, he was very attractive. His height was even with Jasper's and he could easily have been the band's fourth member. He exuded a fantastic calm and competence without coming off as too serious or intense. I imagined he handled a crisis exceptionally well and kept the band members in line.

As usually happened in these types of meetings, it wasn't the fact that the band members were amazingly beautiful that struck me, it was that they looked so very normal. Don't get me wrong, they were definitely on the hot side of the gene pool, but they weren't the airbrushed perfection that was usually seen in publicity photos and magazine covers. They were just normal guys that had worked hard to master their craft and were now starting to reap the rewards.

I took comfort in that thought, as I always did. In that way, they weren't so different from us . It was hard to be quite as nervous when you worked out that you weren't in a room with rock stars, but with people who happened to be good musicians. I smiled at everyone in the room and remembered our pep talk in the car on the way here. I took another deep breath and started chanting my confidence and professionalism mantra.

"Well, as you all know, of course, I'm Bella Swan, and this is Alice Brandon. Say hi, Alice."

"Hi, Alice."

"Very funny," I deadpanned.

"I thought so," she trilled.

Everyone laughed, and I felt the tension go down a notch. This was good. If they were comfortable with us and our slightly insane friendship, then we wouldn't have to put up any pretense. We always did our best work that way.

"I have no idea how you deal with content and sourcing material for various uses now, but Alice and I more or less specialize in one stop shopping. We're going to lay out the type of things we've done in the past as well as new areas we think we can cover for your upcoming tour."

Alice took over. "I'll start by running you through some of the things we can handle on a typical day. We start at sound check. If you plan to, or already offer passes to your fan club or added value tickets, we can organize and run the sound check viewing, getting the fans in to watch the day's rehearsal, and then out again when they need to be. We can also handle Meet and Greets, or any autograph session if you want them to be more formal. The only thing we may need is access to additional security, for larger numbers. I can do the strong arm thing, but it usually results in me breaking other people's bones." Everyone chuckled. I was laughing because I knew that they thought she was joking.

"Next up," I continued, "is the show. We do photos and video for all shows. Live shots are great for press, websites, merchandise, and publicity. Video can be used on-line and for b-roll if you have plans for a DVD in the future." I felt Alice and I slip into our easy rhythm. We both started to feel our confidence rise rather than faking it.

Our proposal continued and we laid out the rest of ideas. After accounting for all the additional types of content we could gather on a daily basis, we showed them examples of some of the work we'd done in the past. Even though it was on a much smaller scale than what we had outlined for Midnight Sun's tour, it was a good cross section of our skills and abilities.

Going by what we'd seen at the show the night before, we had actually scaled back a little. We got the strong impression that these guys were about substance rather than flash, and we wanted to be simple, upfront, and honest. About a half an hour later, Alice was wrapping up some last details about the types of photos that worked best for different kinds of shows. The confidence I was feeling earlier had slowly started to fade as l looked into the four men's faces. Their eyes had continued to widen as our presentation progressed, and now they were positively incredulous. I looked over at Esme who was still beaming proudly.

"Of course we'll also be on hand to promote the tour and foster a relationship with the fans at the shows. We feel this will overflow to your on-line presence and help your following there," I said trying to stifle my rising panic. I caught Alice's eye and knew she was on the same wavelength. She usually was. Maybe we overdid it? But Esme knew this is how we did things, and she told us to account for everything in our presentation to the band.

We waited for someone to say something… for anyone to say anything. Finally Alice turned to me, slightly panicked, and in true Alice fashion she blurted out. "Why do I feel like I just claimed to have a subscription to playgirl for the articles with a straight face?" Then she froze.

The entire room burst into laughter except for a slightly mortified Alice.

"Esme, where have you been hiding them?" Carlisle asked as he chuckled. The awe in his voice was unmistakable, which completely confused me.

"I told you it would be perfect didn't I?" she sang in her best 'I told you so' voice.

Jasper finally got control of his laughter and looked at the other two members, who nodded. "Oh yeah, we're all over this."

--==\\//==--

An hour later, we were in Esme's office going over the standard forms that needed to be signed. Esme had just placed the phone down after working out the details of flights and how we would meet up with the tour.

"Esme, I almost had a heart attack at the end there." Everything was happening so fast I still wasn't sure I was taking it all in properly. "They were all staring as us like we'd spontaneously grown a limb from the tops of our heads."

Alice laughed but nodded fervently in agreement.

"I know the way you ladies work is very normal for you, but you have to understand what a catch you are for a band like them. They're used to having to deal with different photographers, videographers, and label people at every show to do all the things you breezed through in that meeting. Can you imagine what a pain it is to track them all down in every city, then explain what you want and how you want it done? Not to mention the fact that you also have to make sure that person does it the way they're supposed to.

It's not fun, believe me. I used to do it on a regular basis before you two came aboard. Why do you think I always make sure you're content with everything? I know you probably think it's because I'm wonderfully kind, but honestly I keep you happy for selfish reasons. If you ever left, I'd have to deal with it all again. You can never, ever leave." Esme laughed but I could tell that she meant every word she had said.

"I never actually thought of it that way, hmm… I guess we are pretty amazing," I said as I tossed my hair dramatically. "Does this mean we can start making horribly unreasonable demands on the rider?"

"I never did like brown M&M's," Alice said to the form she was filling out.

"Oh sure, I work with you all this time and you choose this moment to grow rock star egos!" Esme threw her arms in the air and tried not to laugh as she handed us another stack of papers. We looked at the dauntingly large stack of forms and got down to the business of filling them out.

"Well, I think that's about it." Esme groaned as she handed us the copies of our finalized contract three hours later.

We had relocated back to the board room when Esme's desk became too small for us to spread out, read, and sign all the documents that needed our attention.

"Esme, you deal with all this paperwork on a daily basis? How are you not blind?" Alice said, looking slightly cross eyed.

"Who says I'm not?" She pointed at her glasses. "So, you're back to the hotel tonight, and tomorrow you head back to Virginia, right?"

"Yep. Apparently we have some packing and loose ends to attend to." I tried not beam like a kid on Christmas morning, but I knew I wasn't fooling anyone.

"I hope you're excited. I think you're going to have a lot of fun!"

"Esme, you honestly have no idea how excited we are. We're just a little too stunned to process it right now, I think. Bella will probably wake up at four a.m. and start freaking out on me," Alice said.

I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

--==\\//==--

_Alice POV_

We used the time in the car as we drove back to Virginia to discuss every element of the meeting ad-nauseam. "I think it's weird that they didn't even go away from the table to pretend to discuss it. Esme must have really talked us up."

"We definitely need to send her something as a thank you." Bella was still in awe over the developments o f the past 24 hours.

"Yeah, we should… Bella? We're going on a six month, cross-country tour with Midnight Sun!"

"I KNOW!" Bella screamed as I joined in. We'd been doing that every half hour or so since we'd left New York. Very slowly, the fact that we were about to do something most people only dreamed about was sinking in.

We pulled up to the house and unpacked the car, suddenly overwhelmed with all the things that needed to be done in the next two weeks. Luckily, we didn't have to worry about doing anything to prepare the house for a six month absence.

Although Bella and I had both moved out of Renee and Charlie's home after College, we ended up living there again within a year or so for many reasons. We were still there mostly because it made sense. With the constant traveling we did, it was pointless to get a place of our own just so it could sit empty most of the time.

The first task to be accomplished was stocking up on supplies. We had decided to upgrade some of our gear to celebrate the new job. Bella may claim to hate shopping, but get her into an electronics store and the girl puts me to shame. She managed to pick up a new digital still camera, and new hard drives and RAM for our laptops. She also insisted that we needed a few jump drives, various peripherals like headphones, and power cables that were always getting lost or broken.

I always made fun of her for being so over-prepared but the fact was, Bella was the one you went to when you needed something.

I took care of the rest of the shopping; toiletries, office supplies, clothes etc. After much grumbling from Bella that she didn't need new clothes, I reminded her that we might have to go for long periods of time between Laundromats and she might like more than the three pairs of shorts she currently owned when we ended up in California and Florida in the middle of summer. She left me alone then.

When we first got home from New York it felt like two weeks would never pass. Now it seemed like we had blinked and we were standing in the Richmond International Airport hugging Charlie and Renee goodbye.

"Be careful girls." Renee was sniffling as she crushed Bella.

"Mom. Can't. Breathe," Bella managed to gasp.

"Oh, sorry, Honey." Renee turned to me and gave me a rib-splitting hug too. "I'm going to miss you girls so much. Six months is too long!"

"We'll be home before you know it, Mom," I said as I winced and rubbed my side.

Charlie chuckled. "Be careful and _be safe_. You know I worry about you two surrounded by all these rock stars and parties."

"We'll be fine, Dad." Bella smiled as she threw her arms around him. "You know we're usually too busy to join in on the wild parties."

He grunted in a non-committal way as he hugged me. "Make sure you keep in touch."

"We will," I promised.

Bella pushed the luggage cart to the check-in desk and, before we knew it, we were getting on the plane and on our way to Chicago to meet up with the tour.

--==\\//==--


	3. Chapter Three: Get Together

Thank you to this chapter's betas, **LouderThanSirens **and **SecretlySeverus**.

Project Team Beta is a fantastic resource available to authors in need of Betas. You can find their website at ProjectTeamBeta(dot).com.

I have to voice my insecurity that this is my first attempt at writing. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated!

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

--==\\//==-

Chapter Three

Get Together

_Bella POV_

Alice fell in love with our bus right away. It was big, shiny, and bright blue. She thought it was _very Alice_.

As was fairly common in this kind of situation, the buses were starting out from Midnight Sun's hometown of Chicago a few days before the first show was scheduled. They would take the equipment and some of the crew to Phoenix, Arizona. The band would be flying in with Carlisle the day before the tour started. This gave time for the logistics to be worked out and the crew to perfect some of the issues with setup and teardown.

As it turned out, except for Alice and me, our bus would be empty for the trip. A handful of crew would be on the band bus (mostly the guitar techs, sound, and lighting guys) and the rest of the crew would travel to Phoenix separately and meet us there.

Alice and I spent at least ten minutes wandering around the bus and exploring the inside. This seemed to amuse Carlisle greatly. He had joined the entourage to answer any last minute questions and make sure everything was in order before we got underway. We tried our best not to look at everything with wide-eyed awe, but judging from the pleasure Carlisle was getting from our reactions we failed miserably.

Of course we had been on the road before, but usually we were in a van or driving ourselves in a car. Once we'd had a small motor home shared between six people and we'd thought that had been luxurious simply because we'd gotten to sleep between cities when we hadn't had driving duty. Now we had our own bunks, separate TVs and stereos in the front and back lounge, satellite television, a small kitchen area with a fridge and sink, plus an actual table to sit and eat at.

It was like a mini apartment on wheels and we couldn't help but be impressed. We packed our bags into the storage bays under the bus said our goodbye's to Carlisle. Before he left, he gave us the official tour schedule and the tentative press schedule. While the tour was more or less set, press was only done a few weeks at a time and had the possibility of changing at any time.

Once the bus finally started moving, we were officially on tour with Midnight Sun. Alice and I sat on couches across from each other with stupid smiles plastered on our faces.

"Bella, it doesn't get any better than this," Alice said to me.

I nodded in complete agreement.

It took all of six hours for the bus to go from awe inspiring to boring. Sure it was more comfortable than a car, but there was still nothing on TV and you were still stuck inside a moving vehicle. This was one of many universal truths that we would discover in our adventures. A road trip was a road trip regardless of the vehicle you were in, especially when you were looking forward to reaching the other end.

There was still a lot to be done however, so we threw ourselves into our work. We intended to have a concrete schedule of our own by the time we reached Arizona. The bus stopped in Oklahoma so the driver could sleep for a few hours and we took advantage of the break to stretch our legs and get some food that wasn't greasy truck stop fare. During the tour, the busses would be able to travel through the night as we slept because the drivers would sleep in the daytime as we worked. However, because this initial trip was a solid 26 hour drive, we needed at least one stop. We took a vote and decided to take it in the middle of the trip.

After a long and uneventful trip the next day, we pulled up to the hotel in Phoenix and felt our excitement level shoot up all over again. A rehearsal day was scheduled for tomorrow. The band would fly in early and would head directly to the venue. The day would be devoted to warming up and checking everything over to make sure all the last minute kinks were worked out. The evening would be devoted to a small get together consisting of the band, the crew, and us. The following day, the tour officially begin with the first show.

The edict regarding the get together had come from Carlisle via email a few hours earlier. We were to meet everyone at a restaurant for dinner and then the group would head to a bar afterward for some general debauchery. We were also informed that attendance to both was mandatory even if the drinking wasn't.

I had a sneaking suspicion that Esme was behind Carlisle's insistence. Alice and Esme had conspired many times over the years to get me to go to parties and clubs. They both were under the impression that I was a bit of a workaholic. Esme didn't even have to be in the same state that the scheming took place to be involved most of the time. Unfortunately for me, she seemed to have a new ally in Carlisle.

The scheming was completely unnecessary, of course. Even with my slight discomfort of group gatherings, I had no intention of missing a night out with the band, and more specifically, Edward. Alice spent hours selecting clothes and had narrowed it down to three outfits. She spent the evening trying to decide which to wear. 

The next day we found ourselves in a quiet, out of the way place for a fantastic supper. It was the kind of place that the locals never let the tourists know about. Rehearsal had gone smoothly and everyone was pleased and confident about tomorrow's show. It was a nice meal, nothing too fancy, just a nice homey food with the band and the handful of crew. We had just finished dinner and Carlisle was settling the check when we started discussing where to go for drinks. The few drinks consumed with dinner were already doing their job. Everyone was becoming nicely lubricated and starting to have fun.

As a rule, Alice and I never got drunk on these evenings regardless of who we were working for, or how much we joked about it. We had fun and we were at ease, but we always made sure to keep a good amount of common sense and discretion in the backs of our heads at all times.

Sam had suggested a bar close to the hotel for easy travel purposes and we split up in cabs to head over. The bar was large, but warmly decorated and I was impressed with the layout. There was a large area with the main bar and open floor with tables to encourage mingling, but there were also many more private areas scattered around the edges. A few of these were even suited to larger groups and that was where we staked a claim for the night.

"Okay, first things first, then we get to interrogate the newbies." Emmett motioned a waitress over. He ordered two pitchers of beer and turned to us.

Alice narrowed her eyes at Emmett for a moment. I always trusted her judgment in these situations. Sometimes it was a good idea to knock back a beer or two and be one of the boys, but it had also been helpful to order soda and distance ourselves when our companions were on the rowdier side. If we weren't drinking, we could duck out early in the evening. Alice usually had a good feel for where the evening would take us. Alice reached her decision and nodded. "Make it three pitchers."

Emmett let out a cheer of approval and ordered some finger food. "Alright, now on to the most important question," he said getting suddenly serious. "Mario or Zelda?"

The men at the table groaned and Jasper slapped Emmett on the back of the head. "Just ignore him, we do…"

"Well I've always enjoyed Mario, but I'm an RPG lover at heart, so Zelda would win." I accepted my glass from the waitress as the table fell silent. Alice rolled her eyes.

Emmett nodded in approval but then looked calculating. "Ok then, Zelda or Final Fantasy?""

"Final Fantasy, but only if it's seven," I stated. Emmett reached over the table to give me a high five.

"Have you played all the Zelda's? Even the first one?"

"With the pixely octorocks and everything? Of course, you've got to respect the roots!"

Emmett opened his mouth again but Alice cut him off. "Oh hell no! I am not sitting here listening to two game geeks get their nerd on all night. If either of you so much as mentions World of Warcraft I swear I _will_ hurt you."

The table fell into raucous laughter as Emmett and I shrugged at each other. Pretty soon we were all drinking and the guys were keeping Alice and I entertained with road stories.

"So, Jasper comes out of the shower and his hair is all purple. I know that dye in the shampoo isn't exactly original, but the classics became classics for a reason!" Emmett seemed to be the connoisseur of pranks amongst the group. 

"Oh my god," Alice gasped between laughs as she turned to Jasper. "Is that why your hair was purple in all those photos? I thought it was so strange that you just decided to do something so drastic out of the blue."

"Yes that would be why." He glared at Emmett. "The stuff wouldn't wash out. I ended up having to go and get my hair bleached." Jasper muttered under his breath and took a mouthful of beer. "I got him back though. I took a garbage can full of water and set it on the bus stairs so that it was leaning against the door. Emmett was trying to look all suave for some fans standing outside of the bus. When he opened the door he got soaked with ice water."

"That wasn't funny, it was January. In Canada."

Judging by how everyone at the table was laughing at him, no one felt bad.

Edward recovered first. "Emmett I don't think anyone has any pity for you at all anymore after your infatuation with injecting things with Habanero pepper juice." Edward explained for our benefit. "For a while it wasn't safe to eat anything, fruit, vegetables, chocolates, ice cream, he even put it in Carlisle's toothpaste."

Carlisle gave Edward a stern look. "Imagine someone wanting to get on my bad side. If you can believe it someone even replaced my sugar with Ascorbic Acid." He looked over at Alice and I. "That's the stuff that makes sour candy sour. That made for an interesting morning coffee. In fact it was only surpassed when someone switched my sugar out for salt."

Edward did his best not to laugh. He sort of looked like he was in pain. "We never were able to prove who did that Carlisle."

"Right, still a complete mystery," Carlisle said coolly.

The stories continued and the evening was spent drinking and laughing. After a couple of hours and many drinks, everyone was starting to fade. I was about to call it a night when Edward beat me to it.

"Well guys, I'm done. It's time for me to get back to the hotel." He groaned as he pushed himself up from the table and slowly steadied himself.

"Man, you were done six drinks ago, now you're just shitfaced!" Sam shot at him as everyone laughed.

"I'm heading back too, I'm dead. I'll walk with you." I glanced at the remnants of our party and settled on Jasper who seemed the most sober of the bunch. "Please tell Alice where I went when she gets back from the bathroom? And make sure she walks back with someone, okay?"

We were only a block or two from the hotel, but it was getting very late. Jasper nodded to me as everyone said their goodbyes. I may have bailed on Alice, but I also possibly set her up for some Jasper time. She would understand the gamble and appreciate it, even if it didn't work out.

It really had been a good night and there was a new ease amongst the group. Many more road stories had been shared and almost everyone was on the receiving end of at least one embarrassing memory from past tours. I took note of that and vowed to do my best to not be the focus of too many stories by the end of the tour.

Sam was definitely on the mark about Edward. He was long past drunk and mostly concentrated on his feet as we strolled quietly back to the hotel. I found myself lost in thought and pleased by the comfortable silence between us. By the time we got to the lobby he was using me to walk upright and I was wondering if I should find a luggage cart in case he passed out in the elevator. A giggle escaped as I pictured him waking up on one at the foot of his bed. My laugh caught his attention.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just remembering one of Carlisle's stories. It was a fun night, thanks for inviting us."

"Of course, you and Alice are welcome; you're part of the family now, you know. We always get together at the start of a long tour like this one. We catch up with each other and get to know the new faces." He smiled genuinely.

"And drink," I said as I laughed.

"And drink!" he agreed. "Although I think I overdid it a bit. I'm going to regret it tomorrow."

"Are you ever… just don't pass out before I get you back to your room and into bed!"

"Bella, are you trying to get me into bed?"

I stammered and might have managed one complete word before he broke out laughing. "Look at that blush! Oh, I'm going to have fun with _you_."

"Great, between you and Alice I'm going to look like I have permanent sunburn. Come on, this is our floor," I grumbled and dragged him out of the elevator. He still had his arm around my shoulders and continued to laugh at me as we traveled down the hallway. He was definitely very drunk.

"Where's your key?"

"In my pocket," he winked at me.

"You are so drunk! I am not fishing in your pockets for your key. Get it yourself."

"You're breaking my heart, beautiful Bella." He looked at me intently. I knew he was trying to embarrass me even as I felt the heat flood my face. I didn't see the sport in it, shooting fish in a barrel probably would have been easier.

"Sure, sure. Just get the damn key," Luckily the first blush hadn't completely cleared yet so I hoped that he didn't notice.

He found his key card and handed it to me. Edward leaned against the wall as I got the door open. He took one step toward his room and promptly passed out while still half in the hallway.

After dragging him partway into the room, I gave up and did some hangover prep instead. I got a large bottle of water and put it on the table at the side of his bed. Then, I added the empty ice bucket, in case of emergency, and even relocated the coffee maker. I prepared it to brew so all he needed to do in the morning was reach over and flip the switch. Hotel coffee may be nasty, but it was still coffee. After carefully closing the curtains to keep out the evil sunlight that would try to invade the room in the morning, I pulled back the sheets on the bed. With everything prepared, it was time to address the problem of the tall, well-built man on the floor. I sighed and placed my hands on my hips, contemplating how I was going to get him into bed.

I then took a moment to appreciate that thought appropriately.

I was still appreciating when I heard Jasper's laugh. I looked up and saw him standing in the hall taking in the scene.

"Good timing! Heavy lifting was not part of this contract. Can you toss him into bed? I need to run back to my room for a second."

Jasper laughed again and stepped over Edward to enter the room as I went to get a bottle of Aspirin from ours. I called to Alice, who was singing in the bathroom, that I would be right back. Something good had definitely happened with her and she needed proper questioning. I returned to find Jasper thoughtfully assessing my bedside hangover kit. I added the Aspirin and started to pull off one of Edward's boots.

"You guys have a bunch of press before the show tomorrow, plus it's the first show of the tour, I didn't want him to be in bad shape," I stated simply and Jasper nodded. He was still looking thoughtful and it was starting to make me nervous.

"You may want to take a couple of those for the morning if you don't have any," I said gesturing at the Aspirin as I made my way to the other side of the bed and started on the other boot.

He smiled and brightened. "No, I think I'll be fine, I only had a few drinks." He looked at Edward again and shook his head. "Man he is not going to be fun tomorrow. I can't even remember the last time he got this drunk. It's not like him."

"Don't do the crime..." I finished wrestling the boot off with a triumphant grunt and dropped it on the floor. "Alright, my meddling is done. I think I'm going to go crash. Have a good night, Jasper." I forced myself to walk and not run from the room.

"Bella?" I swallowed and wondered why I was so nervous all of a sudden. I turned around, thoughtful Jasper was back.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for taking care of him. Edward would be appropriately embarrassed for not thanking you himself. If he could remember I mean." He laughed wryly.

"No problem, Jasper. It's what we're here for, you know. We're thinking of getting business cards made up saying _content production and hang over specialists_," I said airily as I smiled and left the room.

I was halfway down the hall when I heard Jasper come out of Edward's room and close the door, but I forced myself not to look back as I returned to Alice. I was pacing and gnawing on my lip as she came out of the bathroom.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop that, Bella? You're going to end up with ugly chapped lips that are no fun to suck on."

"What?" I said, coming out of my reverie. "Sucking on? Pfft, Alice unless you're planning on sucking on my lips, I don't think it's something I need to be concerned about."

She snorted and stretched out on her stomach with her feet in the air. As she rested her chin on her fists, she looked me over. "So?" she asked suggestively.

"Hmm not much, he was very drunk. Mostly, we walked back to the hotel in silence, but it was very comfortable, and not at all awkward. He said that we were part of the family when I thanked him for inviting us. He did, however, want me to fish his key card out of his jeans pocket. I think that he was just trying to make me blush again though," I said thoughtfully.

"Again? When was the first time?"

"I told him not to pass out till I got him back to his room and into bed. He said, _Bella, are you trying to get me into bed?"_ I blushed again at the memory.

Alice buried her face in her comforter laughing.

I shot her a withering look and continued. "So anyway, I told him to get his own damn key and he did. Once I got the door open, he took one step and passed out. I was going to drag him into the room, but he was too heavy. So I got some stuff together for his inevitable hangover by the side of his bed. When I was done, Jasper was walking by and he helped. Which brings us to you— how was your walk back?"

"Wonderful." She smiled dreamily. "We talked about all kinds of random stuff. I was impressed. You know, he seems like a good guy. I really think I want to get to know him better."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh you know what I mean, not like that. He just… like I said, he seems like a good guy."

I nodded and fell on the bed opposite Alice. "Edward seems to be a good guy too. I hope he doesn't drink like this all the time though. I'd hate to see him be the partying type. I've seen too many guys burn out like that."

I heard a soft snore from the other side of the room and shook my head as I got up to complete my evening bathroom routine. On my way back to my bed I folded the covers over Alice and settled in to channel surfed until I found some Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns.

I woke to a muffled groan and rolled over toward the other bed. I chuckled at the Alice-shaped cocoon in the middle, struggling to hatch. I climbed out and went to the head of the bed to help. When I got to the center, I found Alice's feet. This confounded my sleep muddled brain until I remember that she'd fallen asleep upside down last night. After I extracted her from her tangle of covers, she ran to the bathroom.

"I need coffee. Now," she said as she staggered back.

"Ugh," was all I managed in agreement as I pulled my hair up into something that resembled a ponytail. "I didn't drink very much, but I still think I need large quantities of caffeine."

Alice made a face in the mirror and looked over her clothes before coming to a decision. "Fuck it. I'm not going to scare small children am I? Everyone else can deal with it."

"Nah you're fine, I'm not even going into bra territory until I've had something from the bean family and the baked good family."

She laughed and we headed to the lobby.

"I was having the most screwed up dreams last night. Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle were all vampires and I was chasing them around screaming 'Meet Mr. Pointy.' I am never watching Buffy after a night of Jäger again," I told Alice as we stepped on the elevator.

When she finally stopped giggling, I sighed and shook my head to clear the image of the dream. "So did you really mean what you said about getting to know Jasper better?" The elevator jerked to a stop and we stepped out into the lobby.

"Yeah, I mean I'm not going to chase after him like a lost puppy dog or anything. He just caught my interest that's all." She pointed toward the hotel restaurant and I followed the heavenly scent of coffee.

"Speak of the devil." I waved toward the group of musicians in the back of the small restaurant. Alice followed my line of sight and did the same with a wide smile.

I looked back at the three men in baseball caps. "You know it never ceases to amaze me how often musicians get away with not getting recognized simply by tossing on a ball cap."

Alice huffed in annoyance. "It's not _just_ the ball cap, Bella. They're not dressed like they usually are when people see them, they're not all made up and polished."

"Alice it's Midnight Sun, not KISS. They don't do makeup and polish."

She hung her head. "Why must you hurt me so, Bella. It's their appearance, we've gone through this so many times, it's why I hate your sweats. You don't have the right attitude in them. Attitude alone can make you an entirely different person. They—" she gestured quickly to the band members "—are not 'on' right now. They're flying under the radar."

"Ok, I get it," I mumbled trying to fend off the inadvertent fashion lecture I had tempted.

"No, you don't, but I need coffee and food before I continue to train you."

We turned to the coffee and settled on the largest cups we could find before setting our sights on muffins and bagels. I picked up a large blueberry muffin and started chattering to Alice quietly.

"Edward was cute last night. I don't think he was trying to come on to me or anything, he was just being playful. He had me howling at the bar though. With that stuff he pulled on Carlisle, I'm surprised he hasn't been 'accidentally electrocuted' yet. I bet he's a lot of fun to be around."

I looked up from where Alice was browsing the bagels to see the subject of my conversation staring over at us. Catching my eye he motioned for us to join the group. I smiled at him, pointing at the coffee in my hand, then toward the ceiling to tell him we needed to get back to the room.

Alice grabbed a sesame seed bagel, waved vaguely in the direction of the band and headed back toward the bank of elevators. She was firing off a long list of things we needed to prepare for the show today. My eyes lingered on Edward as he turned back to Jasper who laughed at him. If nothing else he didn't seem to be hung over and I was thankful for that. My setup last night seemed to have done him some good. I smiled to myself and stepped into the elevator behind Alice.

--==\\//==--

_Edward POV_

I groaned as the thudding in my head reached an almost nauseating level. I tried to remember where the night ended, but couldn't seem to bring it to a conclusion. I knew from experience that this meant I was about to wake up somewhere unpleasant.

It was the unspoken rule amongst the group that if anyone was stupid enough to indulge and pass out, they lay where they fell. The only exceptions were bodily harm or getting left behind as the busses moved on. I remembered the time we left Emmett passed out behind the bus in Washington. We kept an eye on him of course, but Rosalie wasn't very happy when her friend sent her pictures of him a fan had posted. I chuckled and stopped quickly as the world started moving in unpleasant ways.

Wherever I was, it was dark, which was very good for my splitting headache. I moaned again and moved slightly trying to assess what I was in for when I opened my eyes. The texture of the ground was… soft. It almost felt like I was in bed. I vaguely knew that I'd never made it to bed last night though so… ah shit, I cringed. Did they let me pick someone up at the bar? That was just low; the guys knew I didn't do one night stands.

I prepared for the worst and raised my head very slowly to look around.

I was alone, in bed, and in my own room. Hmm… this was new. In the dim light I looked over to the bedside table and saw the water and bottle of Aspirin. I silently thanked Emmett or Jasper and whatever god had taken mercy on my soul last night. Grabbing the bottle, I downed a few of the blessed pills and most of the water. Then I saw the coffee maker and wondered if I was in some twisted alternate universe. I switched it on and fell back into my pillow as I prayed for the Aspirin and scent of mediocre coffee to stop the room from spinning.

An hour later I was in a hot shower and feeling almost human again. The bedside hangover kit still bothered me though. I was wondering if there was a new punishment for overindulgence coming and how it could be worse than public humiliation.

The last thing I remembered was hanging out in the bar. I smiled to myself as I let the hot water cascade over my alcohol abused body. We were all quite happy with Bella and Alice. Even though it was only the first day we had all been together, they were fitting in perfectly and seemed at home around us and the crew.

Both women had an easy going nature that was necessary for life on the road and they didn't need a lot of hand holding to figure things out. They both seemed determined to pull their own weight and got offended if anyone suggested otherwise.

In the very short time I'd spent around them it was fairly obvious that they were here to work and not be eye candy. Not that I didn't appreciate the view. Alice wasn't really my type, but Bella most certainly was. She was natural, not caked in makeup and constantly worried about her hair. I couldn't deny that having women throw themselves at you was flattering, but some of them may as well have been plastic.

The night was foggy, but I seemed to remember lots of laughing and talking from both of the new additions once they had gotten over their initial shyness. I also remembered that I'd really liked Bella's laugh and found myself lost in that memory for a while. I shook my head to clear the daydream and got out of the shower. I toweled off, got dressed and assessed my stomach's reaction to the thought of some solid food. It didn't give off any audible warnings so I figured it was safe to head down for some breakfast.

I spotted Jasper and Emmett at a table in the back of the hotel restaurant and joined them.

"You look surprisingly un-hung-over," Emmett stated bitterly as he nursed his coffee. "You had way too much to drink to look this happy."

"Yeah, imagine my surprise. I must have been in really bad shape for one of you to get me back to my room, in bed and prepare that most excellent hang-over kit instead of leaving me to the wolves," I said as I browsed the menu. "Since it seems you weren't too far behind me, Emmett, I'm guessing I have you to thank, Jasper? What's with the sudden compassion?"

Jasper snorted in disgust. "Don't thank me, I would have been perfectly happy to leave your passed out ass in the hallway, but Bella asked nicely. She's the one who took pity on you."

I choked on my coffee. "Bella walked with me back to the hotel?" I was all too aware of the fact that alcohol had the ability to make me overly friendly toward women, it was one of the reasons I tried not to get carried away. Once again, I tried in vain to force my memory to recover the evening.

"She left when you did. Alice and I left about five minutes later. Emmett seems to have stayed a few drinks too long. Of course, I remember my conversation with Alice," he said smugly. "It doesn't look like you caused too much damage though, at least you didn't wake up with her," he trailed off, raising a hand in greeting towards the buffet table at the front of the small restaurant.

I looked over and saw that Alice and Bella had wandered in. They looked like they had just rolled out of bed, Alice's short hair was always all over the place, but this morning it looked decidedly flat as well. Bella had pulled her long hair up into a thick, messy ponytail. I liked that they wore bed-head to the lobby; it made them refreshingly down to earth. Plus the added bonus of bed-head is that it seemed to come with the absence of a bra and I was enjoying the view. I only felt slightly guilty for ogling Bella when she had made my morning considerably less unpleasant than it should have been. They acknowledged us briefly and turned to browse the various offerings of caffeine.

The waitress came back for my order and blocked them from view. I was feeling pretty good, but decided to play it safe with toast and eggs. She disappeared with my order and I noticed the girls had moved on to the food, now desperately clutching two very large coffees. Bella took a muffin from the table and was talking to Alice as she waited for the dark haired woman to make her choice. She looked over and caught my eye. I motioned to the empty seats at our table, but she smiled and shook her head pointing at her coffee and then upstairs. Alice snatched a bagel, shot us another wave, and they both walked back to the lobby.

Jasper laughed at me again. "Like I said, you don't seem to have done too much damage. Don't worry about it."

Emmett had been watching them too, and he had a speculative look on his face. "I wonder how close they are."

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked even though we both knew exactly what Emmett meant. He was a good guy and he was devoted to his longtime girlfriend, Rosalie, who worked with our management company, but he could be… unsophisticated at times.

"I mean they live together, but they have different last names. They share a room and they're… you know close. Plus, they're staying in the same room."

I snorted. "Emmett, you just described half the relationships of female best friends. Does that make them all lesbians? They're sharing a room because that's what they were told to do."

"I don't mean anything by it, it's just…"

"Interesting," Jasper and I groaned at the same time.

"Hot!" Emmett said brightly.

"Come on," Jasper said, trying to get Emmett to focus. "I want to go over what we're playing at the radio station today before we leave."

--==\\//==--


	4. Chapter Four: Pranks

Many thanks to my betas **moonlightdreamer333 and thalia_csiny**. This chapter is much cleaner thanks to them!

I know this story has been heavy on narration (that continues through this chapter), but I'm covering a lot of background and events in these chapters. That starts to change in chapter five.

Thanks for sticking with me and reading/reviewing. It calms my frazzled nerves. ;-)

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

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Chapter Four

Pranks

_Alice POV_

On the day of the first show, we familiarized ourselves with the crew and their various jobs. Sam and Jacob were the guitar techs, responsible for handing off the instruments to Jasper and Edward during shows. Sam doubled as Emmett's drum tech, the two of them kept the instruments tuned and in top shape. Paul worked 'front of house' during the show, he took care of sound, mixing levels from the different instruments and microphones. Paul was the one who made everything sound good for the audience. Embry was in charge of lighting, he made everything _look_ good.

During a show, Carlisle monitored the auxiliary soundboard found at the side of the stage. It was the key to controlling what each of the musicians heard in their in-ear monitors. Before the show, Carlisle's home base was production. Production was any small room in the venue that could house the mobile office that was needed for all the communications and paperwork to be handled. This is also where we set up our laptops and equipment.

It wasn't long before we learned that it was customary for Midnight Sun to kick off a tour with a round of good old fashioned pranks. This time however, Carlisle strictly forbade onstage antics. He had very seriously informed everyone that the tour was too big and he needed to get everything working smoothly before, "you miscreants figure out ways to destroy it." The band and crew decided that, since Carlisle didn't say anything about the rest of the day, open season should be declared.

I assumed Bella and I were off limits because we were new, and no one knew how we'd react yet. I was partially right, while nothing was directly aimed at us, we still had to watch for indiscriminate pranks that were looking for a target.

The day started with the gay porn on Emmett's drum kit during soundcheck and it devolved from there. Next, we heard an impressive string of swearing coming from the dressing room bathroom. Emmett held up a roll of saran wrap when Edward and Jasper gave him a questioning look. They both shot him thumbs up and everyone dove back into their activities. Sam came storming out of the bathroom shouting, "Who the fuck did that, that's just gross man."

Not to be outdone, Sam plotted his revenge carefully. A few hours later, we saw him run toward the buses with a stack of towels and what looked like some stray clothing. A few seconds later, we heard Edward bellow, "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Sam," followed quickly by the man himself running toward the bus and wrapped in a poster. He stopped dead when he saw us sitting on the floor cleaning lenses and checking over our gear. Bella happened to have a camera in her hand, as he saw this, he paled. He pointed at us angrily.

"If you take a picture of this, I swear you're both fair game!" He ran after Sam again and Bella looked at me, obviously undecided. We settled on a wolf whistle. At least we got a good show.

Then the standard, "hide in something and scare the shit out of anyone who walks by" became a favorite. We learned that Paul screamed like a girl and that Emmett was quite graceful for a man his size. When Jasper punched Embry out of reflex, it was decided that wasn't such a fun prank anymore.

Dinner was a dangerous undertaking on a day like this. After the second can of Coke exploded on Jacob, everyone suddenly decided water was the safest thing to drink for the rest of the day. As the men opened their food containers, they discovered that everyone seemed to end up with some extras in their order. The lucky ones got hot sauce or peppers, the unlucky ones… Well, we never really did figure what some of the stuff was.

Bella offered our services as a neutral party and went to get another round of food, promising no one would touch it except its intended recipient. Edward tried to bribe us first, Jasper was next, and five minutes later, it was Emmett who had gone in with Sam and Jacob to try to sway us. The one who really surprised us was Carlisle. It seems he'd taken it personally when he'd found every pen and marker he owned super glued to the table.

I was half tempted to do something and get the first strike in, but Bella made a good point when she asked if we'd want them all united against us and if I had any undergarments I'd like to wear in front of a few thousand people because that was where it was most likely to go.

Later that night, Jasper disappeared into the bathroom to chang for the show. When he came out, Edward howled and called to Bella, "now that you can take a picture of!" Jasper looked confused and then scowled as he headed over to a full length mirror. 'Someone' had cut out the ass of his jeans. My money was on Carlisle.

They were an imaginative bunch. This wasn't a shaving cream and water buckets on doors kind of prank off, this was for personal pride. Strangely though, no one seemed to know who actually did what to whom. With so many people involved, it was too hard to guess.

The crowning achievement of the evening was the set list, even if it didn't make it to its intended victims. Before each show, the techs would write out the names and order of songs to be played. The list was then taped near each of the band members, the guy at the soundboard, the guy doing the lights etc. It helps keep everyone on the same page and lets them know what's coming up next. Before Carlisle caught it, the set list for that night read:

My Heart Will Go On

Backstreet's Back

How Much is That Doggy in the Window

Feelings

Barbie Girl

Oops I did It Again

Ice Ice Baby

Good Vibrations

Livin' La Vida Loca

The Thong Song

After the show, an unspoken truce seemed to be called. Bella and I caught some of the downtime with the Band before heading out to our bus to tackle the content we'd collected that day. We offered to help with teardown, but Jacob seemed to think that we weren't up for the job and dismissed us rudely. It was the only black mark on an otherwise perfectly fun day. I vowed to fix that little ruffle before morning.

Bella and I were beyond happy that everyone seemed to be so comfortable and easygoing. We knew from experience that we'd have no problem fitting in here. There were a million things we wanted to do that night: relive every moment of our first day; go back in and drink with the band; check out the photos and video we snagged; but it had been a very long day and we both ended up passed out in our bunks relatively early. That night, the busses would be driving to Anaheim.

Strangely enough, adjusting to the odd schedule of overnight drives and life on the road wasn't nearly as hard as we thought it would be. The tour and the people in it seemed to fit into its own little world, and that world had an ebb and flow just like any other.

Anaheim was much like Phoenix but without the pranks. Los Angeles was the same as that. In fact, before we knew it, we were in the second week of the tour and we were starting to feel comfortable with what we were doing again. Even though this job dwarfed anything we had done before, we still felt ourselves settling into a familiar groove.

We had a day off in Santa Cruise, and Bella and I planned to make the most of it. We decided that since this was a pretty big event in our lives and careers, we would each get the same tattoo in the same place. We didn't want something huge, just something small and tasteful. The consensus so far was a small quarter note on our ankles.

Bella found a local place that seemed knowledgeable and reputable, so we made appointments for two that afternoon. The plan was to grab some lunch, maybe play tourist for a little while, and then go get our ink.

I was returning from a coffee and continental breakfast run (for future note, continental breakfast is a code for bagels and muffins, sometimes even less than that) around ten, when I ran into Jasper in the hall. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked how we were planning on spending the day.

"Tattoos!" I said happily.

"You're going to get tattoos? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I mean, we're not going to get big hearts with MOM on our arms or anything, just a little one. We're going to head out to lunch in a bit and wander over there after that."

"Oh cool, do you mind if I join you? I was at a loss for something to do today, but a tattoo parlor seems somewhat promising."

I shrugged and laughed. "Sure, the more the merrier!"

"Okay, meet in the lobby at noon? I'll see if anyone else wants to go."

"We'll be there," I assured him as I calmly and very deliberately did not run back to the room.

As always, Bella and I shared a room. We often wondered how many times the topic of conversation amongst the men on a tour turned to what we were doing in our room exactly. It wasn't that we were touchy feely in front of everyone, but we were obviously good friends. And let's face it, they were males, it was a given they thought about it. We figured a little mystery made us interesting and kept our raging penis fandom to ourselves.

Closing the door behind me, I leaned up against it, and mouthed "hot, hot, hot, hot, hot." Bella watched my mini-meltdown and shook her head as she laughed.

"I take it you ran into Jasper in the hall… either that or I'm really looking forward to meeting the room service guy."

I gave her a coffee and plopped down on my bed. "Definitely Jasper, the room service guy is jail bait and has a little filling out to do. He seemed nice enough though." I shrugged and I waited for Bella to take a nice big gulp of coffee. I was determined to exact a small amount of revenge for her humor at my expense.

"So, Jasper is coming with us to lunch and then for our tattoos. He's going to ask the others and see if anyone else wants to go." Bella choked and I smiled with satisfaction.

"Bitch, you did that on purpose."

"Who me?" I smiled angelically.

At noon, we found ourselves in the lobby waiting for Jasper and the rest of our mystery companions. As it turned out, Edward and Emmett both wanted to come.

"Who would have thought masochism was a spectator event?" I smiled at the three men. The five of us stepped out front and flagged a taxi. We assessed the small cab and our group. Emmett took the front seat simply because he would crush whoever sat in the back with him. It seemed to amuse the guys to no end when Bella slid to the middle seat in the back and I climbed in on her lap.

It was second nature to us. All through University, whenever ur group of friends went anywhere, we were 'volunteered' to share a seat in vehicles because she was small and I was tiny. It was a habit we never seemd to drop. Jasper bent down and looked in the car, laughed, then shrugged, and told Edward to go around. They jammed themselves in and we were off to the restaurant. Bella looked as smug as I did about our Jasper and Edward sandwich.

We entered the restaurant and waited to be seated. I noticed the hostess eyeing the men in our group immediately, but they seemed oblivious to it.

I leaned toward Bella and whispered, "Five bucks she asks for an autograph before we get to the table."

"Nah, she's not freaking out, she'll wait for them to be seated," Bella whispered.

The hostess looked around the restaurant and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. "Excuse me, I don't want to be rude, but you guys are Midnight Sun, right?"

I heard Bella groan as I smiled in triumph. Sure enough, she asked for autographs as soon as Jasper confirmed her suspicion. The guys introduced themselves and signed a menu for her. I was grateful that she managed to keep her voice down and stay calm. I really wanted to eat here, and if we thought a flock of fans were going to show up, we'd have to move on. When her autograph requests were satisfied, she led us to a table.

"Your server will be along in a moment. It was really nice meeting you, thanks for the autographs." The girl smiled widely and practically floated back her station at the front of the room.

Bella sighed again before digging in her purse and handing me a five. The men looked at us in confusion.

"I bet Bella that the hostess would get your autographs before we were seated. She thought we'd make it to the table first."

Bella shook her head in shame. "I broke my own rule, never bet against Alice."

Everyone chuckled and the server appeared to take our drink orders. Our main course had just arrived when the conversation turned from small talk to more personal questions aimed at us. They weren't intrusive, just "getting to know you stuff"; still I thought I caught a common theme. I debated on how much fun I wanted to have with these three. Emmett was doing all the questioning while Edward and Jasper shot him quick glances of warning we weren't meant to see.

"So you two are from Virginia?" Emmett asked.

Bella nodded. "Ashland. My family's been there for generations."

"You too, Alice?" He turned to me, obviously hoping I'd be more forthcoming.

"Yeah." I casually continued picking the olives out of my salad.

"So you two are like best friends or something? Have you known each other long? When did you meet?"

Bella shot me a look, and I knew she was thinking the exact same thing I was. Emmett wasn't being terribly subtle.

"Well, we did go to college together. We knew each other before that, but you know what they say, you really get to find yourself at that age. You get to experiment and learn new things about yourself. It was definitely an experimental time for us both," I said, nodding thoughtfully.

Bella coughed into her napkin causing Edward to look at her. I thought I saw a knowing look cross his face before he smirked and hid it quickly.

Emmett looked a little shocked and very intrigued. It was suddenly like we were a new species, and he wanted to learn all about us. Bella let the bait sit for a minute or two as we both ate our salads, seemingly oblivious to Emmett's obvious awe. She looked up seriously and reached across the table to Emmett's hand which she patted softly. "Emmett, honey, I like penises, so does Alice. Sorry."

Jasper snorted and Edward howled. Almost everyone in the restaurant turned to look at the source of the noise as Emmett looked abashed and muttered something under his breath. He dove into his food and didn't come up for air until we were well into the next subject. Bella was recounting how we had come across Midnight Sun.

"Well, it's funny actually because it was a complete accident. I was doing some research on Alaska for a paper and came across some pictures of _the_ midnight sun. They were absolutely breathtaking, and I scoured Google for more. Eventually, I came across some references to you guys and loved the music."

Of course, I knew the truth was that she actually came across a picture of _Edward _and that sparked her sudden musical interest. However, the result was the same, so I wasn't about to contradict her. We both honestly did love their music.

"You know, Emmett wanted us to be called _The Irritable Grizzlies_. I suppose you never would have become a fan if we had given in to him. He never was really able to explain what it meant though," Edward said thoughtfully.

"I don't know man, I told you I just like that name… _The Irritable Grizzlies_. It's a good name!" Everyone looked at him blankly before we all broke out laughing again.

"Alright, so we should probably be on our way if we're going to make it by two o'clock," I said, taking some pity on Emmett as he seemed to be the target of the day.

Jasper insisted on picking up the check, saying that it had been a working lunch since we'd discussed the band. When Bella pointed out how lame that excuse was, because we'd spent all of 5 minutes on the topic, and most of it was her story about them, Jasper snatched the check from her and stuck his tongue out.

"Oh, that's mature," Emmett grumbled, apparently in a bad mood from being the butt of too many jokes.

I was determined to cheer him up, so as we were walking to the tattoo place a few blocks over, I brought up a subject that always brought a smile to his face.

"So, Esme told us you and Rosalie are an item?"

He brightened right away. "Yeah, we've been together since high school. She's the one that got our tape to Esme actually, and made sure she listened to it too. Rosalie is deadly when she wants something," he chuckled. "She's always really believed in us."

Emmett's love for Rosalie was obvious. Just thinking about her had changed his whole demeanor. He looked wistful and positively radiated happiness and contentment.

"Being on the road has got to be hard," Bella said sadly.

"Yeah it can be, but she's a pretty independent person. She enjoys her time alone too, so we make it work. Plus, we trust each other, that's the most important thing."

Emmett had always looked young to me, years younger than Jasper or Edward. Caught in a rare serious moment, he looked older and wiser. There was definitely a lot more to him than he showed the world in his carefree playful side.

"Here we are." Bella excitedly headed into the store.

The heavily tattooed woman that greeted us introduced herself as Victoria. We explained what we wanted, and she showed us the appropriate section of the sample book. The five of us debated different styles of notes and colors. I went first while the three men jockeyed for the best angle to watch.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Jasper asked.

"Just a little but mostly when she works over the bone." Victoria finished the small tattoo very quickly and covered the area.

Jasper and Edward continued to watch Bella as she got hers done, but Emmett wandered back over to the books. I went to sit with him. "What'cha doing, Emmett?"

"I was thinking about getting one too," he said hesitantly.

"Really? Of what and where? Wait, do I want to know the answer to either of those questions?" I teased.

"I was thinking I'd get a little rose over my heart. Then I could keep her close to it all the time."

"Emmett, that's so sweet," I said, shocked that he was capable of such a romantic notion. "I'm sure she'll love it."

--==\\//==-


	5. Chapter Five: Personal Space

My betas **Jessica0306 ****and**** itsange **deserve thanks for, not only picking up my many grammatical errors in this chapter, but some obvious mistakes that I should have caught as well.

The next chapter is already off to Project Team Beta (fantastic people there check 'em out) and I hope to post it very soon.

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

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Chapter Five

Personal Space

_Edward POV_

As much as I loved Seattle, I doubted that I would ever be able to get used to the constant rain and lack of sun. Being a musician meant that it was my job to be a night person, but it was still nice to see the sun in my limited daylight hours. I didn't think we'd see much of it during our time on the cloudy Washington coast.

When I opened the door to the front of the bus, I saw the rain sheeting on the windshield. I swore and returned to my bunk to grab a hoodie, hoping it would keep me relatively dry as I made my way into the venue.

Alice snickered when she saw me. "Drowned rat doesn't suit you, Edward."

"Quiet, pixie."

She laughed again. "You're not a morning person, are you?"

"I wouldn't know; I rarely get up before noon. Now point me in the direction of the coffee, evil pixie."

"Second door on the left. Everything is set up in the dressing room. Bella's on a coffee run though. I'll tell her to get you something. The stuff in there will rot your gut. Do you want your usual?"

I nodded. "Tell her if she brings me a muffin, I'll kiss her."

Alice muttered something as she sent a text to Bella, but I was too intent on the promise of caffeine to pay attention.

"What's on the schedule today?"

"You've got two interviews, but they're both coming here, so you don't have to leave the venue today. We've also got contest winners coming in for soundcheck. It should be pretty straightforward. It's only a small group of sixteen or so."

"Sounds like a fairly light day then." Alice nodded and turned her attention to the array of blank paper splayed out on the stage. "What are you working on?"

"I'm choosing the paper for the cover of the book we're sending out to the fan club. It'll go out after the tour as a kind of scrap book. I know what I'd like to use, but the cost is too high. I'm trying to find something close that's not so extravagant."

I watched and wondered what I missing as she picked up various pieces and assessed them carefully. "It's paper… isn't that a one size fits all sort of thing? It's flat, blank and comes in different colors…"

"No, no, no. Here, take this." She handed me a sheet. It was thicker than normal paper, but other than that, it was unremarkable.

"Now, feel this." She handed me a second sheet. This was as thick as the last, but it felt like a stiff fabric rather than paper.

"They're different, see. They give the book a different feel. The cover is the first impression, it sets the mood! Why do you use four guitars throughout your set?"

"Well that's a little dif…" Alice narrowed her eyes, making me reconsider my argument. "Okay, I get it, different paper is important. I'm going to go find the other guys before you hurt me."

"That might be wise."

I wandered into the backstage area. Jasper's voice carried to me from the dressing room. "Are you sure they'll be here?"

"Is he sure who will be here?" Jasper nodded a hello to me as I dropped into an overstuffed couch across from Emmett.

"Lauren and Jessica," Emmett said with disgust.

I groaned. "I guess we're not hanging outside after the show. Wait, how do you know they're coming?"

Emmett shrugged and Jasper sighed deeply. "Emmett has been reading the message board again."

"Oh man, Em, how can you stand that? Some of the kids there are great, but the scary ones are really scary." I'd sworn off the message board years ago.

"It's funny! You should read the things they say about you two. There's one woman on there that…"

"No! I don't want to hear it - last time I had nightmares for a week."

"But Lauren loves you, Eddie!"

"Emmett, why are you calling him Eddie, you know he hates that. And who is Lauren?" Bella appeared in the doorway looking like a goddess with coffees stacked three trays high.

"Hold that thought." She took a deep breath and shouted into the hallway. "Coffee's in the dressing room. I'm not delivering it so get your slack asses in here."

Jumping up from the couch, I crossed the room quickly and took two of the trays from her. After placing them on the table, I attempted to decipher the grease pencil marks and find my black with three sugars. Bella hissed and slapped my hands while pushing me away.

"Stop it, I have a system!" She sorted out the drinks, handing a cup to Emmett and one to Jasper before finally locating mine.

"Wait, you wanted a muffin too, right?" She opened her purse and handed me a paper bag with a blueberry muffin. I smiled and kissed her on the cheek causing her to blush brightly.

"What was that for?" She looked absolutely stunned. It took most of my self control to keep my smile from breaking into full blown laughter.

Alice laughed from the doorway. "Well, he did promise to kiss you if you brought him a muffin."

"You didn't tell me that in your text, Alice."

"Are you telling me that you wouldn't have brought me a muffin if you'd known?" I gave her my best puppy dog eyes.

"She probably would have brought you two." Bella turned a brighter shade of red and glared at Alice as she started toward the assortment of coffee cups.

"Excuse me; I have to talk to my friend for a moment." Bella latched onto the other woman's arm and dragged her from the room.

I chuckled and turned back to the couch to see Jasper and Emmett staring at me. "What?"

"What was that all about?" Jasper's eyebrow looked like it was trying to crawl up his forehead.

I fell back onto the couch and shrugged. "That was nothing. She's fun to tease. I find it entertaining to make her blush, that's all."

"Yes, that's obviously all it was," Jasper said with annoying smugness.

I chose to ignore him and inhaled the beautiful scent of fresh coffee deeply. We sat in silence for a few moments before Bella returned to the room with Alice in tow grinning like the Cheshire cat. They retrieved their coffees and sat down.

Bella turned to Emmett. "So, as I was saying, who's Lauren?"

"Well, that depends on who you ask. If you ask her and Jessica, they're our most devoted fans. If you ask us, they're scary-ass borderline stalkers."

"Emmett enjoys watching their encounters with us. He finds it humorous." I glared at him.

"It's not my fault if you can't handle a couple of little girls, Eddie."

"You weren't so blasé about it before they met Rosalie, fucker." I turned to the girls. "The last time we were in Seattle, Lauren and Jessica came to the show. Jasper and I managed to duck out before they camped out at the bus, but Emmett was still inside. When he came out, they cornered him."

Jasper suddenly found his coffee extremely interesting. "Edward and I may or may not have been sitting inside the bus watching the whole thing play out."

"I could hear you both in there laughing!" Emmett pouted.

I cleared my throat so I could continue the story. "Anyway, they had him cornered and were making boasts about their proficiency with certain parts of the anatomy when Rosalie walked out. Emmett looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He didn't get two words of explanation out before Rose started calling them sluts and told them to stay the hell away from her man or they'd be able to add gumming to their list of blow job skills. They haven't propositioned Emmett since."

"They just won't leave Edward or me alone." Jasper looked as excited about that as I did.

Alice laughed darkly. "I would have loved to see Rosalie in her glory. I can't wait to meet these two."

"I'm quite certain you'll get the chance. Don't hesitate to unleash the evil pixie on them either." There was a slight hint of pleading in my voice but if it got Lauren off my back, I would have dropped on my knees and begged.

Later that day, our interviews were finished and soundcheck was approaching. I decided to spend the last few minutes checking over my gear and supplies. Jacob always kept everything organized and in top shape, but I enjoyed spending time with my guitars and fine tuning my gear.

Noticing that a small group of people were coming in the front door, I ducked behind a stack of gear and made sure I was out of sight. This was the first time I actually had a chance to see Alice and Bella interact with the fans. I usually saw them after the soundcheck, during the meet and greet, but they always stood back and let the fans have their moments without hovering.

As I watched, I saw the stark contrast between the way they worked and what I was used to. Whenever someone from the record label did this, they treated the fans like a herd of cattle. The group was directed from place to place while the person responsible used any down time to check their email or talk on the phone. The girls engaged the fans as they waited, and it was obvious that they were doing it because they enjoyed it, not because they had to.

I was impressed to say the least. I knew from Esme that they had been doing this type of work for years, and a lot of people would have been jaded by now. The thing a lot of people forgot when they got a job in the industry was that music is a business. If you weren't prepared for that fact, it was a shock. I'd known plenty of people who went to work for a record label and even knowing how cut throat the business could be, they still got worn down by the day-to-day crap.

Jasper came up behind me. "You ready? Emmett's on his way."

I groaned in response as I saw two familiar bottle blondes at the back of the group.

"I know that sound, that's the sound of the last of your hope being crushed by high heeled shoes. Let me guess - they made it to soundcheck?"

I watched as Lauren and Jessica settled in at the front of the stage. They were both in the tiniest skirts I had ever seen, and their shirts looked like they were about to revolt from being stretched so tightly. Even from this distance, I could see their makeup was thick enough to have been put on with a knife. They stood away from the rest of the group and preened. It was obvious they thought themselves superior to every other female in the room.

I shook my head and turned toward Jasper. "Let's get this done."

We walked out on the stage to scattered applause from the small group. Jasper waved and slung the strap of his bass over his head. He played some random chords before starting into a familiar riff. I played a few notes, working off the tune he was playing. A few minutes later Emmett still hadn't arrived so I decided to have some fun with Jasper. I played the first few notes of Duelling Banjos.

There were some snickers from the crowd as he raised an eyebrow at me, but he returned the notes. I sent him the next part, which he again returned. We were into the song and laughing along with the fans before Emmett finally ran on stage apologizing.

We worked through some of our set list as everyone fine tuned amps, speakers and other equipment. I noticed a tall man with greasy hair and bad skin standing very close to Bella and practically drooling over her. The discomfort was obvious on her face, and I chuckled at how oblivious this guy was. I saw her make a gesture with her camera and slip away from him. The guy didn't seem to take the hint as I saw him standing with her three more times before we made our way to the floor for the meet and greet.

The three of us spread out and worked through the small crowd, chatting, signing autographs, and taking pictures. I noticed the greasy guy was still following Bella around like a puppy dog and my annoyance with him flared.

We were finishing up with the last of the fans when a shrill voice reminded me why I was dreading this part of the day. Lauren and Jessica waved from across the room. All my hopes for wrapping this up at a reasonable time went up in smoke. Just as the would-be stalkers were making their way over, Bella and Alice cut them off.

Alice beamed at the girl they were dragging with them. "Guys, this is Angela Weber."

I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Angela. I'm Edward."

"Oh, I know who you are. I've been following your music since your EP." Angela's blush rivalled Bella's.

"Angela is majoring in computer arts, like Bella did. She's been picking our brains about our job all afternoon. I think she may be looking to replace us in a few years."

The color drained from Angela's face. "Oh no, Alice, I couldn't… I wouldn't…"

"Relax, honey, it was a joke."

Angela blushed again and we talked for a while about music and other bands she liked. Once she relaxed a little, she became quite talkative. The six of use were having a very enjoyable conversation before a sound I likened to fingernails scarping on a chalkboard interrupted us.

"Hi Eddie! Jasper! Did you guys miss us?"

Obviously, Lauren was finished with waiting her turn and she ran up to me, pushing Angela out of the way. She threw her arms around my neck and jumped up to plant a kiss on my lips. Luckily, I was used to her greetings and I turned my head so that she got my cheek instead. I saw her pout a little as she stepped back.

"Lauren, Jessica. How have you been?" I pried Lauren's arms from around my neck and took step back to put some distance between us. Lauren wasn't having that, and she attached herself to my side. I saw Bella stifle a giggle and Alice rolled her eyes at Angela.

"Oh, we're much better now that we've seen you three handsome men again!"

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? Thankfully, Bella covered for me.

"Well, I should probably start rounding everyone up and get them to head outside again. I'll be back in a bit. You stay here and hang out, Alice, I've got it."

I was grateful for Bella's effort but if she thought Alice's presence would keep Lauren in line, she was mistaken. The girl had no verbal filter or sense of personal space.

Lauren surveyed Bella's retreating form with obvious disgust. "You really should pay your roadies more, Eddie, that girl is a train wreck."

"Well, when you do most of your work on your feet, instead of your back, you have to dress for comfort." Alice smiled sweetly at Lauren who didn't seem to catch the insult. She focused her attention on Emmett.

"So, Emmett, you still with Rose?"

"Uh yeah, of course."

"That's a shame. I know someone who would be perfect for you."

"Well thanks, I think… but Rose and I are really happy. In fact I should give her a call. It was nice seeing you guys again."

I gave Emmett the evil eye as he abandoned us.

Lauren was already babbling about all the things she'd done since she saw us last. I was so busy trying to think of a good exit strategy, I almost failed to notice that Jasper was getting the same treatment from Jessica.

"So, we'll be at every show right up until Denver!" I shuddered at Lauren's squeal, certain I'd lost an eardrum.

I choked in surprise as I realized what she was saying. "Oh, wow really? You're following us all the way to Colorado… that's uh, quite the trip."

"Oh I know, I've seen you guys there before. Don't you remember, silly?" She giggled and slapped my arm lightly. As much as I wanted to tell her that I'd worked very hard to block all my past interactions with her from my memory, I managed to keep my calm.

"If you've been before, you should think about going somewhere new on your vacation. Canada is beautiful, and Vancouver has a lot to see. It's an amazing city. The coast is always nice too; we just came up through California and it was really amazing. The scenery is just fantastic." I wondered if I knew enough about Antarctica to talk her in to an extended visit.

"Maybe, but you won't be there and you're the only scenery I'm interested in." She attempted to flutter her eyelashes but the clumps of mascara made it look more like small flies were attacking her. I vomited in my mouth a little.

Alice's phone rang and she stepped away from the group to take the call. I had the sudden urge to scream at her to not leave us. We had always tried to walk a fine line with some of the more obsessed fans. Discomfort was bearable and brushing someone off too forcefully could have unfortunate consequences. Still, it was looking like our only choice this time would be to forcibly detach ourselves from the two women. Alice started walking toward us and winked.

"I'm so sorry to have to interrupt, but Ms. Klien needs to talk to you, Edward. She said something about an emergency meeting. Apparently, something's happened with the B-rig."

As far as I knew, our secondary set of equipment, or B-rig, was safe at home. We weren't going to need it on this tour. Who the hell was Ms. Klien?

Alice passed me her phone and I heard Bella's familiar laugh on the line as I raised it to my ear.

"Hey, Edward, need a rescue?"

"That would be most welcome. What's the issue… is it serious?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it's very serious. I think Lauren and Jessica are skanky enough to be a breeding ground for new and virulent forms of STDs. You should probably grab Jasper and get out of there. God only knows where their hands have been."

"Hmmm, you bring up a good point. The proximity to that is uncomfortable. I'm sure the equipment in question has seen a lot of use and anyone could have had their hands on it." Jasper's face was a mix of curiosity, panic, and disgust as Jessica hung off him.

"Edward, save poor Jasper, Jessica is practically dry humping him"

I coughed loudly to cover the snort of laughter. "That will have to be taken care of right away. Once I get Jasper and Emmett, we'll call you back. Thanks." I hung up and returned the phone to Alice who gave me another wink.

"Sorry girls, but we have to go. There's a bit of an emergency we have to take care of." I started to wrench Jasper from Jessica's red talons.

Alice stepped between us and the stalkers and started showing them to the exit while ignoring their requests for passes, tickets, phone numbers and stuttered goodbyes.

Jasper didn't need to be told twice and he turned with me to head backstage. "What's wrong with the gear? We didn't even bring the second rig with us this time. Who in the hell is Ms. Klien?"

"That would be me." Bella was leaning against the side of the stage, doubled over and trying to regain her composure.

"Alice and Bella orchestrated a clean getaway for us."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry. '_The the equipment in question has seen a lot of use_,' that was great." She took a deep breath. "I have to go and help Alice with the stragglers; we'll catch up with you later."

I relayed the other side of the call to Jasper while we walked back to dressing room. Jacob was lounging in the dressing room when we entered.

"Did I see Lauren and Jessica?" His voice was tinged with disgust.

"That was them, keep your guard up, they'll be following us all the way to Denver."

"Fucking leeches. I'll let the other guys know."

We were all aware that besides a conquest story, either of those girls would be happy to take home a special memento. While the crew always watched over the gear closely, they made a special effort around those two. None of us put anything past them.

"We're going to have to do something about them though. They're getting more and more clingy and I'd really rather not need to shoot them down. They strike me as…"

"…possibly dangerously deluded?. Yeah, I agree. We'll tell Carlisle to keep them away, and then we'll only have to deal with them outside the venues. It's easier to ditch them there."

Jasper was writing in his notebook and I was playing around on an acoustic when the women joined us again. Alice was leaning on Bella's back while gasping for air. Bella looked positively surly.

"It's not funny, Alice."

"Oh my god, it so is. And it's not just funny, it's fucking hilarious."

Bella pushed Alice off and stalked to the bathroom. Alice leaned up against the wall and continued to fight for air. She slid to the floor, and held up her hand as we looked at her with curiosity.

"Did you guys notice the tall greasy guy that was hitting on Bella during sound check?"

"Yes." The annoyance in my voice must have caught Jasper's attention because he turned to stare at me.

"What? Bella was trying to blow him off and the guy was clueless. He annoyed me. I can only imagine how she felt."

"Yeah, him! That was Mike Newton. He writes for a 'nationally acclaimed music site,' which turned out to be his personal blog when I checked. Okay, so we were kicking everyone out, and he puts his arm around Bella before she can duck out of it. He proceeds to tell her which hotel he's staying at and tries to give her a key card. Then, in what I imagine he thinks is his deep, sexy voice, he tells her that he's gonna 'rock her world,' but his voice cracks. Bella practically knocked him over trying to get away from him and ran back into the venue. He just stood there with the key in his hand looking astounded that she turned him down. It was just so damn funny."

"I swear to god, Alice. If you keep laughing I'm going to sick the next creepy looking fan on you."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned to see Bella standing outside of the bathroom with her hands on her hips. She looked so adorable when she was mad.

Jasper walked over and put his arm around her shoulder. "Come on, Bella, it's not that bad. I had Jessica rubbing on me for a good five minutes. I feel like I need a course of antibiotics after that."

Bella looked up at him and fought the smile that was breaking across her face. She gave up eventually and joined in with the rest of us.

"Okay, now that we've all had a laugh at my expense, I need to go download pics from the cameras."

She stopped beside Alice at the door and I barely hear her low voice threaten her friend. "You're still gonna pay, evil one. Now I owe you for that and the muffin thing."

--==\\//==-


	6. Chapter Six: The Rules

Thanks go out to **Maddie **and** Lulu M** for being awesome betas. If you enjoy the lemon in this chapter at all, it is thanks, in no small part, to them! Lulu gets and extra helping of gratitude for combing through this twice.

**This chapter has been edited for FFn. You can find the unedited version at Twilighted.**  
**http://www (dot) twilighted (dot) ?sid=11633 (currently being validated)**  
**What you're missing: Bella's dream as mentioned in Edward's last POV.**

Wall-sex inspiration is all due to Edward Wallbanger by feathers_mmmm.  
FFn:http://www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/s/5072648/1/Edward_bWallbanger_b  
Twilighted: http://www (dot) twilighted (dot) ?sid=5250

If you haven't read it, go. Now. Seriously, you won't regret it.

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

Q&A:

knd3116 wanted to know everyone's ages.

Bella and Alice are 26. The guys are all 27-29. Carlisle and Esme would be mid-to-late 30s.

--==\\//==-

Chapter Six

The Rules

_Bella POV_

"You're drooling." I giggled.

"Am not," Alice replied, absently wiping her chin.

"I wonder if he really needs to bend over that amp like that? Maybe he knows you're up here and is giving you a show," I stated with mock seriousness.

"I don't know, but if there is a god in heaven, he'll never find what he's looking for." Alice moaned as she turned her head sideways to admire the view from another angle. A disappointed sigh escaped her as Jasper's head popped up from the other side of the amp and he walked across the stage to the soundboard.

"Take heart, my dear Alice, maybe he'll get a shower in the dressing room again, and you can just happen to be visiting as he strolls out in a towel." She moaned at that particular memory. I laughed as I opened my phone to check my messages.

"Close that right now! You know the rules! No light!" she hissed at me as I quickly closed the phone again. I apologized for forgetting where we were, and promptly rejoined Alice's ogling – or as we referred to it in outside company – strategy and brainstorming session. Alice's brain was certainly storming as Jasper pulled off his long sleeve shirt while trying to fight down the wife beater that wanted to follow suit.

"Do you think we could get a telescopic lens covered? Or would someone notice it on the expense report?" she asked dreamily.

"I think, even if we did get it covered, a plethora of close ups on treasure trails and nipples would take a lot of explaining when they were inevitably discovered."

"You're all calm and smooth now, but just you wait. Edward will be showing up soon and then you'll be as incoherent as I am."

"Pfft. I'm always calm and collected! I'm never inco…. Oooh." At that moment Edward strolled across the stage, and I forgot the important point that I was trying to make. Alice laughed loudly. One of the techs looked around for the source of the noise as she threw her hand over her mouth.

Alice and I had been holding our meetings to coincide with sound checks as soon as we realized her gift for finding meeting places that were dark and hidden. While we often gathered content at soundcheck, the guys weren't always camera ready, so there were plenty of days off to ogle. It's not like we couldn't watch from the stage, or sitting in the front row. The problem was that for sound check, the house lights were always on and they could see us too.

These 'meetings' provided us with a (mostly) safe time and place in which we could leer and mentally undress the objects of our lust without being caught. We spent a lot of time around these beautiful men forcing ourselves to be coherent. Our minds needed the time to wander freely.

We both had moments when we were pushed to our limits. My mind immediately recalled the incident yesterday, when Alice was most recently put to the test.

I double-checked the list of topics for Emmett to cover in the interview he was doing later that day. "Okay, we've finished almost all of the questions, Emmett. Amazingly, you've got through most of them without excessive swearing or lewd comments!"

Alice snickered and continued eating her ice cream.

"Oh, ye of little faith! I'm not a complete ass, you know. I can be smart and polite and… stuff," Emmett said with mild indignation.

Alice doubled over laughing. I did my best not to follow her example. "You're a fantastic person, Emmett, and I have no doubt that you can be all of those things when you want to. The problem is that your desire gives out at the most inconvenient times."

I jumped when I heard Jasper's voice behind me. "Like the interview last week when you told the guy his wig would be awesome for your Halloween costume."

"Yeah, well it turns out it wasn't a wig." Emmett still looked disappointed at the memory.

"And that would be my point," Jasper said, shaking his head.

It's possible that Alice and I both stopped breathing when Jasper appeared from the shower. He was soaking wet, with one hand held a towel loosely about his hips. Water dripped down his torso into some very promising places.

Luckily, he didn't pay attention to either one of us. He walked over to a bag on the table, fished out a bottle of body wash and walked back toward the bathroom.

Emmett looked at the trail of water in Jasper's wake. "You call me a pig. You ass, look at the water all over the place. You're cleaning that shit up."

Jaspers response was the one finger salute. Just as the singer was about to round the corner to head back into the shower, Emmett snatched the half-empty water bottle from the table beside him and threw it. It smacked loudly in the middle of Jasper's back. He jumped in surprise, dropping his towel as he darted around the corner.

I think I actually heard Alice's heart stop. My lust was for Edward all the way, but I had seen enough in the last two minutes to develop a strong appreciation for Alice's taste. The man honestly did have one hell of a fine ass… strictly from a third-party standpoint of course.

Now that Jasper had disappeared, Emmett's attention would be falling on us again. I recovered quickly, knowing that Alice would need me to cover. I was already damned impressed that she didn't cross the room in two steps and jump Jasper.

Our salvation came in the form of pizza. Emmett never failed to be distracted by food and today was no exception. As soon as he dove for the stack of pizza boxes, I was dragging Alice from the room. When I pulled her safely into a bathroom, she was still blinking like an owl and muttering, "hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot," at an increasing volume.

I snickered as I came back to the present. Although we weren't really even near the south yet, we were experiencing a minor heat wave and the temperatures were definitely uncomfortable. On the up side, we were being treated to regular viewings of shorts and wife-beaters. Today was already exceptionally hot, and Alice whimpered as Jasper decided that the lighter shirt was still too warm and stripped it off.

"Please explain to me again why we can't sample the goods!" Alice whined as she distractedly pointed to the beautiful half naked man on stage. "I really want to lick that!"

To be fair, Alice wasn't in complete lust mode anymore and neither was I. In the past, we had found that, while a lot of musicians were great people to hang out with, they weren't suitable for much more than that. Sometimes they enjoyed being pampered a little too much or their egos had outgrown them long ago. The other possibility was that they enjoyed the pleasures of the lifestyle a little too much. I remember watching more than one musician vomiting blood after a night of drinking, or disappearing into their bus with a woman who had obviously spent a lot of time perfecting her 'whore core' status. I shuddered. The 'whore core' is how Alice and I liked to refer to the group of women who made it their goal in life to sleep with as many musicians as possible.

The rare really good guy was usually involved or married. When we'd found that none of the bad stuff applied to Jasper or Edward and that they were both single, it hadn't helped with our attempts to not get attached. I'd found Edward to be funny and playful, but not in a malicious way that some people seemed to mistake for funny. He was also intelligent and thoughtful, and much like me, he was quiet. You could be around him without the need to fill up the silence. He was intuitive about what people were thinking and could read a face in an instant.

Alice had no problem rattling off the ways that she found Jasper attractive. He was a voracious reader, and I'd often find the two of them discussing strange topics over a hamburger or sushi. He was also unpredictable; she loved that. He was a fitness nut, which, besides proving added ogling opportunities, Alice was into as well. It's not that I didn't like to work out, but I didn't take it to the same level as her with her martial arts. She was still working up the courage to approach him and ask if he wanted to join her on her morning runs.

I shook my head at Alice. "I don't have to answer that. You know very well why there will be no licking or anything else."

She nodded sadly.

We were the only females on the tour, and compared to most of the rest of the women these guys saw, were absolutely chaste. Most of the women that hung around after shows were willing to trade anything up to and including sex for VIP passes or some face time with the band. The fact that we didn't throw ourselves at anything male was a little unnerving to them at times I thought.

The rules we had made for ourselves were there for a reason and we both knew it, even if it sucked at times. At least it kept us eligible for the next tour. Like any industry, music was a small world. It didn't take many mistakes to get you a bad reputation.

"Here," I said looking at Alice's heartbroken expression as Jasper put his shirt back on and left the stage. I pulled a lollipop out of my bag and handed it to her then took one for myself. "Suck on this. It'll make you feel better, work out some of that excess licking energy."

"Good idea," she said, helping me clean up my props of paperwork and pens in case anyone stumbled upon us.

"Do you want to go out front before we head to the bus? Maybe there some fans out there we can chat with," I asked, while stuffing the last of the papers in my bag.

Alice nodded, but groaned when we made it outside and saw that the front of the venue was deserted except for Lauren and Jessica.

I plastered a smile on my face and pulled out my best friendly voice. "Hey gals, you're here early."

They just huffed and turned their backs to us.

I shrugged at Alice, and we turned toward the buses. We both knew that we were past the point of redemption with the two women, not that this was a huge blow to our happiness.

We had slowly worked our way onto their shit-list over the past few shows. First was the incident at soundcheck when Alice had dragged them from Jasper and Edward. After that, we had continually come up with excuses to take the band away from them. The fact that the band didn't seem to mind our interference last night was the final nail in our coffin.

"_We're done here girls; I saw Lauren and Jessica stalking around earlier. You might want to do a head count in the bus and make sure everyone is safe," Jacob said as he chuckled._

"_Okay, Alice you go out front. I saw Jasper head that direction last. I'll go out back and see who's out there."_

_She nodded and walked quickly to the front door. As I made my way around the front of the bus, I heard Laurens nasally voice._

"_Come on, Eddie, I know you want to."_

"_Lauren, really we're packing up and leaving tonight. I have to get on the bus and get ready to go."_

_"They'll wait for you, Eddie. They can't leave without you after all."_

_I could just picture Edward pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing in frustration. I knew he was too much of a gentleman to be up front with her and put her in her place, but sometimes I wished he'd get over it. That wasn't Edward though, so I decided to step in again._

"_Oh, Edward, there you are. I've been looking for you. Carlisle was just faxed that new contract a few hours ago. It's sitting inside and I need you to look it over right away."_

"_Bella! Thank God… I've um been waiting for that contract. It's very important."  
_

"_Yes, I know so you should go read it right away. Sorry Lauren."_

_Edward turned to leave without another word and Lauren let out a noise of disgust. "You're not going to let her just order you around like that are you?"_

_Edward just shrugged. "They know what we need to do. We trust them."  
_

_As Edward passed she, tried to slip her key in his pocket one final time. I bumped her arm and she dropped it._

"_Oops, sorry Lauren, I'm such a klutz. You dropped your key."_

_I caught a smirk on Edward's face as he climbed into the safety of the bus._

If looks could have killed I would have been dead many times over that night. I laughed at the pleasant memory and turned my attention back to my sucker.

Alice proceeded to demonstrate various licking techniques vulgarly on her spherical candy as we walked to our beautifully air-conditioned haven. I was almost in tears by the time we got to the buses.

"So you want anything particular for supper or shall we just have the left over salad in the fridge?" I asked her as we walked past the band bus, also sealed up and humming with effort to produce livable temperatures.

"Ick, just salad. I can't eat in this heat. I almost wish I could walk around naked."

"I'll go to the store after the show and get us something cold to suck on. It'll help." I laughed.

We walked past the band bus and over to our own.

--==\\//==-

_Edward POV_

I peeled the guitar off and wiped it down. With a building this big and open it didn't make sense to have air conditioning - it was that way with a lot of venues, but that didn't mean I was used to it. Jasper grabbed his shirt and put it back on as we left with Emmett for the dark, cool bus.

I sprawled out on the front couch as Emmett tried to interest one of us in some Grand Theft Auto in the back lounge.

"Too hot," I muttered as he disappeared while calling us fucking pussies. Emmett was always so eloquent.

I was lying silently, contemplating how excruciating the heat would be with a few thousand people and all the lights. I figured Jasper was doing the same when Bella's distant laugh carried to us through a window that hadn't been closed completely when the air conditioning was turned on.

I looked over towards it and noticed that Jasper was trying to look very disinterested in the conversation that was drifting in the window.

"Ick, just salad. I can't eat in this heat. I almost wish I could just walk around naked," Alice said. Jasper choked, ruining his façade completely.

"I'll go to the store after the show and get us something cold to suck on. It'll help," Bella said and I winced.

"That's not fair," I said simply.

"Tell me about it. What is it with the constant licking! Ice cream… lollipops… one night, I saw Alice molesting a fucking ice pop at the side of the stage and my pants almost exploded. It's possible she's trying to kill me, Edward."

"Yeah, that's it, master assassins sent to kill us both expertly trained in the art of… I'm not even going to finish that thought."

"Probably better that you don't."

"Maybe after the tour is over or something. It's too complex right now."

"Nah, girls like that aren't going to do the one-night stand thing. They're looking for relationship material," he said in an infuriatingly wise tone that meant I was probably going to hate the outcome of this discussion.

"I'm relationship material!"

"Yeah, sure you are. You're meeting Tanya after the show tonight right? You'll be taking her to your room for your standard 'catch-up' session?"

"She's an ex, and a good friend. She's not a one-night stand."

"And you saw Kate the night before last?"

"She's another ex, and a very good friend."

"And you saw Irina in Seattle?"

"What's your point, Jasper?"

"Doing stuff like that means you're not relationship material to girls like them."

I tried to come up with a good argument and drew a complete blank. Ignoring it would have to do. "I'm going in the back to kick Emmett's ass at GTA."

--==\\//==-

_Bella POV_

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Alice, for the sake of my sanity, please stop staring at the wall," I begged as I fought to keep my mind on my work and maintain my cool. My only other alternatives were screaming or running from the room and neither would end well.

When we returned to our hotel after the show, we quickly learned that Edward had the adjacent room. The evidence of this was still _quite_ audible.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. _

"I can't help it! Do you know how long they've been going at it? That man has stamina!" she said to me with wide eyes.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. "Oh god, Edward!"_

I gave up and threw myself on the bed, covering my head with a pillow. Alice looked over at me and laughed.

"Oh, come on, Bella. Look at it this way - it's a nice piece of knowledge to add to your collection. He obviously has skills."

"I think I preferred it when his skills were unconfirmed." The muffled thumping and moaning increased in speed and was joined with more prayer. "Well, at least she's religious," I deadpanned. "I should tell Esme not to book this hotel on the next tour, the walls are too thin."

We waited as the room next to ours fell silent. "Hey Alice, what's the weather like for the next couple of days?"

"Ummm…" Alice focused her attention on her laptop. "It'll be cloudy and rainy with a thunderstorm the day after tomorrow probably."

"Of course, that's perfect." I'm sure my sarcasm was not lost on Alice.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

"Well, I figure that the next time I see Edward, I'm going to turn into a tomato. The only way I can think to counteract that is getting a really wicked sunburn. It looks like the weather doesn't want to cooperate."

Alice collapsed on the bed in laughter. "Tell you what, I'll pretend to have just told you a really dirty joke." When I asked her what joke, I really did blush, which she seemed to take pride in.

"That'll work," I mumbled into the pillow again.

--==\\//==-

_Edward POV_

"So, how is Tanya?" Jasper asked when he sat down at my table in the hotel lobby with his coffee.

I gave him a non-committal shrug. The truth was that Tanya was fine; it was me that was screwed up. I wasn't a man-whore, but I certainly enjoyed it when my schedule allowed me the opportunity to hook up with the women that had been in my life for years.

We were always up front about what it was. I had no desire to string anyone along or break hearts. When I hooked up with one of my girls, it was for a fun night and nothing more. We both knew that there were no strings attached.

The problem was that recently, I couldn't keep my mind from wandering to Bella. Her brown eyes haunted me whenever I was away from them. She was commanding and confident in her job, but I also saw her be shy and reserved. She was a study in contradiction, and the mystery she represented gnawed at my mind.

It wasn't like me to become infatuated with someone. I told myself that my growing obsession would fizzle out with sufficient distraction, but Irina, Kate, and now Tanya had all failed to drive Bella from my thoughts.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, Jas, my head is elsewhere." I sighed and swallowed another mouthful of coffee.

"I noticed. You want some advice?"

"No, but then you weren't actually asking were you?"

"Not really," he said with a wide smile. "Stop fighting it, Edward."

"Stop fighting what?" Jasper had a habit of being cryptic, but I really was lost this time.

He just smiled serenely at me.

"Speak of the devil." He nodded his head in the direction of the breakfast bar behind me.

I turned and saw Bella through the green leaves of a plant loading up on the extra, extra large coffee. That was a lot of caffeine; she must have had a bad night. It was obvious that between the lush tree and the pillar, she didn't know we were there. I turned back to Jasper, about to suggest we invite her over when Alice joined her.

"You look way too fucking chipper," Bella mumbled at her friend, echoing the sentiment I often had about Alice in the morning hours.

"Ohhh, Bella, you're in a nasty mood," she chirped back.

"Slept like crap."

"Really? That's funny. I thought you slept lots. I mean, I woke up in the middle of the night to 'Oh God, Edward' and the moaning and I thought he was giving his guest an extra early morning show. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was you worshipping at the church of Edward!"

I froze and Jasper raised an eyebrow at me. Shit, they must have been in the next room, but Tanya wasn't that loud was she? _Moron_, I thought to myself, obviously she was. But Bella was dreaming about me? About _her_ and me? My head was swimming with conflicting thoughts. I really was torn at this point about letting them know we were there. The damage was already done, and it would just make them feel worse to know that we overheard.

At least that's what I told myself.

"If your next sentence has anything to do with me on my knees, I will hurt you." There was a pause as I heard the rustling of sugar packets and Alice snickering. I saw Alice take a few steps from the coffee bar then pause to wait for Bella.

"You've had some pretty vivid dreams about Jasper yourself. Don't get all holier than thou on me!" she hissed as she walked off after Alice.

"Oh, holiness has nothing to do with it, darlin'. At least it sounded like a good dream," Alice retorted with a wicked laugh.

"It was… amazing," Bella said as she disappeared around the corner.

"Well…" said Jasper.

"Yeah…" was the only word my stunned mind managed to verbalize.

--==\\//==-


	7. Chapter Seven: Bad Day

Once again, I must thank the betas for this chapter **VotreAmant **and **UslessEpiphany26****. **Your wonderful feedback helped me to polish this chapter even with Alice screaming at me to post it already.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who has left a review. Especially to those that leave multiples for different chapters. I don't respond to all of them simply because I feel a little silly saying thank you over and over again in replies. It really is appreciated!

If you're reading and haven't left a review, I still love you too; you just don't get a gold star. *hugs*

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. Anything I didn't borrow from her was created in my twisted mind.

-==\\/==-

**Chapter Seven**

**Bad Day**

_Alice POV_

"No, I didn't order the eight pound paper for the cover. I ordered the _eighty _pound paper. Why in the name of all that is holy would I want tracing paper for a cover? You're a printer, you tell me. Does anything about that order make any sense to you?"

"_No it doesn't, but that's what the computer says."  
_

"Well _obviously_ someone entered it into the computer incorrectly. You know what? You can't fix this and I'm not going to argue with you about it. You need to put an immediate stop on the order, and your manager needs to call me back as soon as he's in."

"_Yes ma'am. I'll do that right away."_

I hung up the phone and tried to take two deep breaths. "Incompetent- motherfucking-cocksucking-assholes!"

"Wow. Nice to see you too, Alice." Jasper climbed the stairs of our bus and sat on the couch.

"Hey, Jasper." I sighed dejectedly and fell onto the couch across from him. Even the sight of his heavenly body stretched out in front of me didn't make me feel better on this day from hell. _Maybe if he was naked…_

Bella came out from the back of the bus with a bottle of aspirin and a can of Coke. I was torn between annoyance at her for interrupting my mental undressing of Jasper and joy at seeing the pain relievers.

"Normally, I don't condone the consumption of sugar with caffeine in these quantities, but today you've earned it."

I took the pills and rubbed my temples, willing my headache to go away. "This week has been such a cluster-fuck."

Jasper started to laugh, but stifled it quickly when I glared at him.

"This is not the bus of mirth. This is the bus of the damned, and it is filled with motherfucking misery and torment. If you want to do that laughing shit, take it elsewhere."

Bella smiled sheepishly at Jasper. "When Alice is stressed she channels the long dead sailors that perfected the art of the filthy mouth. Your bleeding ears have probably alerted you to the fact that today is a _really_ bad day."

"What's going on?" he asked innocently.

Throwing my hands up in the air, I stomped back to the bunk area. I started rifling through my bag for my emergency chocolate stash. Unfortunately, I still heard every word of Bella's conversation with Jasper, reminding me of how the universe had suddenly revolted against us.

"Well, today it's the scrapbooks. Somewhere along the line, the order got totally mangled, and everything about it is wrong. They even have the wrong version of the artwork. They only printed about two thousand copies before someone contacted us, but they still think we're paying for them."

"Yeah, they're ass-munches too," I shouted with disgust.

"Yes, Alice, we know that they're ass-munches." Bella sighed and continued our tale of woe. "Anyway, Alice is sorting that out, but it's just been a crappy week. Besides the entire massive issue with the books, there have been problems with the computers. An entire batch of press kits we sent out seem to be MIA, and Alice and I are experiencing the creative equivalent of writer's block because of the stress. We just really need a break, and we're looking forward to the downtime in Kansas."

Jasper let out a low whistle. "Wow, sounds like you two have had a tough week."

"Alice is convinced that it's because of…"

I made my way to the door and smacked Bella on the back of her head. "Do _not_ say the names of those two skanky-ass bitches. We've talked about their bad mojo."

She took a deep breath and turned back to Jasper while rubbing her head. "Fine. We've had a few run-ins with _'_They who shall not be named_'_ in the past week. I think they're under some insane delusion that we're the competition. Alice is convinced they're working some kind of bad luck voodoo or something."

"No, that is not what I said. I said that the mere presence of their fucked up brains and negative energy is causing us bad luck. You're the one who called it voodoo. Voodoo is very complex and would require them to learn something. I honestly don't think they have the brain cells."

Jasper nodded slowly. "Well, I wanted to check in with you two. Paul seemed a little concerned when he passed by this morning and heard you screaming random obscenities."

"They were not random, there was a very strong sentiment behind every single one," I informed him calmly.

"I'm definitely getting that, so I'm going to go back inside. I hope that you guys get this sorted out before it kills Alice. Let me know if I can do anything to help."

He disappeared at top speed. I took the liberty of watching his amazing ass every second until he disappeared into the building. For the first time I cursed his long legs, because they ended the scene far too quickly. I sunk back into my foul mood. Absolutely everything was working against me today. I let out a growl of frustration and turned to Bella. "I've never been to Denver before but I don't plan on ever coming back."

Bella came over and gave me a hug. "Aw, honey, you can't judge the whole city based on one bad day. We don't have to work sound check today. What do you say we get out of here for a short session of retail therapy?"

"_You're_ suggesting we go shopping? Have I been that bad?"

"Well, I think Jasper is a little scared of you now."

I moaned and lowered my head onto Bella's shoulder.

"Come on, I'm calling us a cab. Spending grotesque amounts of money always cheers you up."

"Seriously? You're going shopping with me voluntarily? The last time I tried to take you, you bribed a random fan to let you hide in their car."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. You're in need of cheering up, and I would walk through the fires of hell to do it…or in this case go shopping."

I cheered and hugged her again before running to my bunk. Recently, I had been using my black Givenchy Hobo handbag on the rare occasions that I needed one, but I was in the mood for something brighter today. After considering my choices for a moment, I dove into the spare bunk and dug out my white Louis Vuitton Multicolore Speedy. The bright multicolour monograms were exactly what I needed on a dark day like today. Bella was already sighing impatiently in the front as I moved everything from one bag to the other.

"I don't suppose I can talk you into that 'fires of hell' thing. I hear it's good for the skin."

I chuckled darkly. Today was going to be fun, no matter what mood I was in. "No way, the offer has been made and you're committed. Now let's go get me my fix!"

-==\\/==-

_Jasper POV_

Edward called to me as we finished sound check and I waited for him to catch up before continuing on to the dressing room sitting area.

"Have you seen the girls at all today? Bella looked like crap yesterday. I don't think she's sleeping well." The concern in Edward's voice was more than idle. I smiled to myself at his determination to downplay his interest in Bella.

"Yeah, I talked to them this morning, and Bella checked in with me before they left. She took Alice shopping."

"Oh. Wait… she did what?" Edward probably would have been less surprised if I told him Bella was carrying a litter of kittens to term.

"I know, I was shocked too, but they've had a rough week. I was talking to them this morning about it. I think Bella was trying to get Alice's mind off it."

"Wow. I knew they were close but for Bella to inflict that upon herself… that's pretty selfless."

We had all learned of Bella's and Alice's opposite attitudes towards shopping over the past few months. We'd witnessed Alice pleading with Bella to accompany her shopping many times. Bella had even been known to hide in our bus once or twice so Alice couldn't track her down before she set out on a shopping trip of epic proportions. That had stopped the day Alice knocked on our door and demanded we produce Bella or she would take one of us with her instead. Of course, Emmett planted a kicking and screaming Bella outside the bus within minutes. We liked her, but there was a limit to the sacrifices we'd make.

I snorted, but was instantly drawn to the distant sound of someone yelling furiously outside. Edward shot me a puzzled glance, and we made our way to the back of the venue. Most of the crew were standing by the partially open doors and taking advantage of the shadows to watch the spectacle unseen. As we approached, Carlisle gave us an amused smiled.

There was a small gathering of fans by the bus. In the middle of the group, Alice was shrieking at a petrified looking Lauren and Jessica. Bella had a hand on Alice to restrain her, but she wasn't putting a whole lot of effort into it. We were obviously joining an argument that was in progress.

"…Neither of you have fucked any of the band members or the crew. I know this because when Emmett's girlfriend told you to stay away from him, you both almost pissed your fucking pants. Jasper and Edward have done their best to be nice to you, but since you can't help but throw yourselves at them like pathetic whores whenever you see them, they're both avoiding you now too. As for the crew, they're all way too attached to their private parts to risk putting them anywhere near you two. It would probably be healthier for them to go to a local junkie and get some used needles to stick directly into their dicks."

I heard a few sharp intakes of breath and look around to see most of the crew wincing. I also noticed that Sam had his phone out and was recording the altercation. He noticed my glance and mouthed back, "for Emily."

I chuckled and turned my attention back to Alice as her voice got even more venomous. "Listen to me you skanky-ass bitches, no one wants you here. The crew spends half of the day just trying to avoid you and your vomit-inducing offers. You're both nothing but damned nuisances. The day before yesterday when you offered Sam a blow job for backstage passes pretty much sealed your fate. The girl you pushed aside to make that offer was his fiancé, and even the fact that she's quite visibly pregnant didn't stop you. Let's just say no one was impressed. I know you two aren't exactly high class, but that was a new low even for you."

Lauren's expression became more furious as she looked at the growing crowd with embarrassment. "Who do you think you-"

Alice cut her off. "As far as you're concerned, I may as well be God. Bella and I are in charge of all the access to the band. If you want to see them, you better impress the fuck out of us, and so far… not so much. Stop chasing anything with a penis, because it's not going to help you. As of now you are 'persona non gratae' at all shows and events. That means you're not welcome anywhere near the band, the crew, or the buses. I don't care if you win a contest, or happen to parachute into Jaspers lap, I will call security and have them on your ass so fast that even _you_ would be shocked. And believe me when I tell you that if security isn't available I'll be more than happy to kick your fucking asses to the curb myself."

I suddenly felt the need to adjust my pants. "Good God, I think that's possibly the hottest thing I've ever seen." A few low chuckles came from the men around me.

Alice turned her back on the blondes and stomped toward the venue as the watching crowd burst into scattered laughter. Bella followed her friend while suppressing a smile.

Alice threw the door open and froze as she saw us gathered inside. Her eyes quickly found Carlisle and her face filled with regret.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle. I know I overstepped there, but they were just getting so out of control…"

Our manager started the applause and the rest of us joined in. Jacob and Sam bowed a couple of times chanting, "We're not worthy!"

Bella and Alice burst out laughing. When Lauren and Jessica heard the applause through the open door they stormed off through the crowd.

Carlisle quieted us down. "Alice, you've just saved me from a very unpleasant conversation. I may have left out some of your more… vibrant phrasing, but other than that, it all needed to be said. Don't worry about it. Besides, it was quite entertaining."

"What brought that on, anyway?" Edward asked.

A look of disgust crept across Alice's face. "They had the nerve to try and ruin my shopping high. We dropped our bags off in the bus and by the time we came back out, they were waiting with the other fans. We've tried really hard to go out of our way and be nice to them all week, but when we heard the stories they were telling out there, I kinda lost it."

"Kinda?" Bella laughed.

"Okay, so I lost it completely, but you should have heard what they were saying… well no, it's probably better that you didn't. Let's just say they were sharing some very graphic stories about their time spent with all of you."

I suppressed the need to vomit at that thought. With the way the others groaned, I doubted that I was the only one.

"Well, Alice, I honestly didn't think that I'd ever say these words, let alone to a woman, but thank you for defending my honor." I did a quick curtsey and the crew laughed again.

Alice snorted and left for production. The rest of the guys drifted away until Edward, Bella and I were the only ones left at the door. Bella was still staring after Alice when Edward spoke.

"Bella? Are you sleeping at all? You look like crap."

"Huh? Oh sorry, yeah I'm sleeping… I'm just stressed. It's been a long week. Way to boost my confidence, though!"

I laughed as she punched him in the arm and headed down the hall. Edward's eyes followed her until she was completely out of sight.

"You've got it bad."

"_I've_ got it bad? Okay, Mr. _'that's possibly the hottest thing I've ever seen.'_"

I grunted and wandered over to the stage area to find Sam.

"Hey Sam, could I uh…"

"Yeah, I know you want a copy of the video. You and everyone else. They all want to send it to their girlfriends at home. Even Carlisle wants to send it to Esme. He doesn't think she'll believe what Alice did. I'm gonna borrow his laptop now and download it. I'll mail it out to everyone as soon as I do. I can't wait for Emily to see it. She was so upset the other day." The laughter on Sam's face quickly gave way to anger and he stalked off to production.

I found my way to the dressing room and stretched out on the couch. I couldn't deny the fact that I was developing a fascination with Alice any more than Edward could deny his interest in Bella. I just couldn't help the feeling that there was a part of her that I wasn't getting to see. It wasn't that I felt they were hiding something, they were just very adept at steering conversations away from their personal lives. Even their common likes and dislikes were a mystery to me. It seemed that beyond their jobs, I knew hardly anything about either of them.

It was about six o'clock when supper arrived. The dressing room filled up with hungry men laughing over today's events. Lauren and Jessica had been a thorn in everyone's sides, and we were all happy at the possibility of them leaving us alone.

Bella joined us about twenty minutes later. She was putting a good effort into acting normal, but I had always been good at reading people, and I saw the worry in her eyes. I expected that the blow up in the parking lot would have let off a little steam, but oddly it seemed to have the opposite effect. Edward noticed it too, and he was trying to get her to participate in the conversation rather than blend into the background.

I abandoned my meal and decided to go in search of Alice. If Bella was the one choosing to be social while the ever happy Alice was nowhere to be seen, something was definitely off. I didn't fail to notice Bella's worried glance following me out of the room. I was going to start my search on the bus, but as I passed production I saw her. She was sitting at a table, facing the wall with her laptop open in front of her.

"Alice! There you are. You're missing supper. Sam and Jacob are inhaling it as we speak. You better get in there if you want some."

She jumped when I said her name but didn't turn around. She took a deep breath before answering. "That's okay, Jasper, I have some stuff to finish up here. Bella will save some for me. I'll join you there in a bit."

Her voice was quiet, but it sounded shaky and flat, not at all like the Alice I had known for months.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yep, everything's just peachy!" Alice was unfailing cheery, but I had never heard forced cheeriness from her. Something about it made my stomach knot up.

"What's wrong?"

She didn't answer me so I grabbed Carlisle's chair and dragged it over to her before sitting down. "Alice?"

"Nothing is wrong, Jasper. At least nothing that matters or that can be fixed or changed." This time I heard the tears in her voice and I leaned in to see her face.

The tears streaking down her cheeks seemed so foreign, so wrong that it shocked me. I felt the sudden need to move heaven and earth to fix whatever it was that made her cry. I moved on instinct and did the only thing I could think of to help. I reached over and wrapped my arms around her.

Even though she was upset, the feeling of having her in my arms was so right. She completed a physical part of me that I didn't know was missing. Having her in my arms was perfect, it was home. The feeling of contentment stunned me for a moment; I barely noticed her pulling away until I suddenly felt empty.

"I'm sorry. I feel like an idiot." She wiped at her wet cheeks.

"Hey now, I won't have any of that. Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

"It's honestly stupid and pointless."

"And yet I'm still not leaving you alone until I hear about it."

She sighed. "Well, you've already been clued in on the long stressful week portion. Today was just the icing on the cake I guess. I lost it with Lauren and Jess…"

I cut her off. "Alice, no one blames you for that at all. Even Carlisle said they deserved it."

"Regardless, it was unprofessional. It wasn't my place to talk to them like that or to ban them from the shows. I did it in front of everyone I work with and in front of fans. It's not something I'm proud of no matter how much they deserved it. Now it seems I'll never be able to live it down." She pointed to her computer where an email from Esme was open. I read it quickly, Esme was nothing but supportive of Alice and her actions. In fact, she seemed downright proud. The video was also open and paused about halfway through.

I could understand where she was coming from. One thing I had learned about these two is that they put a lot of effort into being consummate professionals. Alice equated her performance this afternoon to failure on that front.

"Okay, I get that. I really do, but you have to understand something too. What's the longest tour you guys have ever done?"

She looked confused for a moment before answering. "Six weeks, give or take."

"Right and how long have we been on the road now?"

"I dunno, three months maybe?"

"That sounds about right. So for three months we've all been together constantly. Day in and day out, we're all living together. You cannot be 'on' all the time on a tour like this. People argue and fight, we get annoyed with each other, and we get stressed out and do stupid things.

"Even Emmett, Edward and I don't have to be camera ready all the time. We have interviews and shows of course, but we have a lot of down time where we just get to be ourselves and not worry about appearances. I don't think that you've let yourself have any down time. Even when you two aren't actively working you're carefully editing yourself for us and the crew. It's bound to take its toll, Alice.

"I get that you want to do the job and do it well and whatever other mantras you're repeating in your head, but you can't be perfect twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for six months."

"So, in short you're saying..."

"Shit happens."

She laughed, and I smiled as the sound washed over me. "Wow, that's your big philosophical statement? Shit happens?"

"It's gotten me this far."

"Thanks, Jasper."

"Anytime, you know, if you and Bella didn't let yourselves get so wound up in the first place, you probably wouldn't have needed a breakdown. Less work! More play!"

"You make a terrible boss, you know that?"

"But a fun one."

"Indeed." She shot me a wicked grin that made my stomach knot up in an entirely different way than her tears. "Go eat your dinner. I'm not going to be responsible for you passing out during the show because of low blood sugar. I'll be there in a few minutes."

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

I bolted upright as my eyes darted around the room. The shout of insults and accusations still echoed in my head. Everything slowly came into focus and my surroundings became familiar again. Alice and I dealt with stress very differently. As the entire crew had experienced today, she got moody and swore like a sailor, whereas stress for me meant my nightmares came back. They had been bothering me all week. Normally Alice would have picked up on it by now, but she was so caught up doing damage control with the printers that she wasn't as observant as usual.

Even if she had noticed, there was nothing she could do about it. She would just worry and try to watch me more closely. I was well aware that we both had enough on our plates already, so I was perfectly happy not being something else for her to stress over.

The way that Alice had blown up at Lauren and Jessica was proof of how overworked she was. I stifled a giggle at the memory. She had tried to apologize to Carlisle three more times before he told her that he'd fire her for apologizing if she didn't stop. She just felt really bad for losing her cool.

The sound of Alice's even breathing filled the quiet hotel room. After punching my pillow into shape, I stretched back out in bed. Thirty minutes later, I was still tossing and decided to accept that sleep was a pointless effort at the moment.

I grabbed my pile of clothes from the floor and padded silently to the bathroom. Even if it was two-thirty in the morning, I didn't want to get dressed in the dark and end up walking around the hotel with my shirt inside out and backwards.

Checking that the keycard was still in my pocket, I made my way from the room silently. I was in the elevator before I realized I didn't bring my laptop with me for something to do. I knew there was no chance of getting back in the room and getting my computer without waking Alice so I decided to wander around instead.

I was passing the closed restaurant when I heard the piano. I stopped and closed my eyes as the muted notes of Chopin's _Prelude Number Four_ washed over me. The piece was perfect for my darker mindset at the moment. I felt drawn to the music and stood in the hall debating about sneaking into the restaurant.

I approached the door and saw that it had been propped open to allow the player access. As the light notes of _Clair de Lune_ filled the air, my mind was made up. I knew I needed to hear more so I slipped inside the room and pressed myself against the wall.

The room was dark except for soft lights that illuminated the raised platform with the grand piano. I had never played but even I admired the beauty of the instrument when we had eaten here earlier in the day. I was so taken with the divine music, I almost failed to notice the musician.

It didn't surprise me to see Edward sitting on the bench in front of the piano. Somehow, from the first note I heard in the hallway, I knew it was him. I watched intently as his hands floated softly over the keys. His eyes were closed and his face serene. Although he was dressed in grey sweats and a ratty t-shirt I'd never seen him look more breathtaking. I watched as his fingers caressed the keys for the final notes of the song.

The next piece he plated was Moonlight Sonata. I sighed and leaned my head against the wall. It was impossible that he heard me over the heavy bass notes, but the music stopped, and he turned toward me. My heart started pounding in my chest. I suddenly felt like an intruder on a very private moment. It was dark where I was standing, so I was fairly certain that he couldn't make me out but he continued to stare right at me.

"Sorry, I was wandering and I heard the music so I came to investigate. I didn't mean to intrude."

"Bella?"

My voice tried to abandon me but I still managed to squeak out a yes.

"What are you doing hiding back there? Come up here."

I took a moment to remember how to move my legs and walked toward him. "I really am sorry, I honestly didn't mean to interrupt… I just couldn't resist."

Edward laughed softly. "You're not interrupting, but what are you doing up? Jasper told me that you guys had a conference call early tomorrow about the printer debacle."

"Technically, that call would be later today. I just couldn't sleep. I thought I'd wander around a bit to wear myself out."

Edward patted the bench beside him. "Sit down." He turned back to the piano and played idly. "That was my plan too but then I remembered that I saw this at supper. I managed to talk the kind woman at the front desk into opening the door for me."

I sat down on the bench and reveled in the heat of his body next to me. "Something tells me that you're very good at talking women into things." A bright blush filled my face as I realized the double meaning to my statement.

He chuckled softly and continued to pick out a melody on the keys. "I only use my powers for good, don't worry."

"Like rescuing kittens from trees and talking concierges into opening restaurants?"

"Precisely." A crooked smile graced his face. "If you ever lose a kitten or need a midnight snack, I'm your man."

We were quiet again while he played. The movement of his hands mesmerized me. He shifted to reach the higher notes and our hips pressed together. My gazed drifted up his arms to his face. His eyes were closed again and his head was tilted back. His mouth was slightly parted and I found myself staring as his lips as the piece ended.

He turned to me, and I was pierced by the brilliant green depths yet again. I gave myself a mental shake and reminded myself that staring at him while he was looking at me did _not_ fall under the category of subtle.

"So... um… what's keeping you up?" If I was speaking to him, it gave me a perfect excuse to look at him.

He smirked. "Nothing serious, I needed to make a decision… if I wanted to pursue something or not. I didn't really expect to make any headway on the problem tonight, but it seems that the answer found me anyway."

"Oh…" The convoluted meaning to his statement eluded me, but he didn't seem to want to offer any clarification, so I moved on to another topic. "What's your favorite piece to play?"

"There are a lot of them. What's your favorite to listen to?"

"You were playing it when you uh… saw me."

He smiled and started playing Moonlight Sonata again. He continued to watch me as he played, but I found his intense gaze difficult to meet. I lowered my head and watched his elegant fingers play. I tried to concentrate on the sound of the music rather than the man sitting next to me, but it was difficult. He finished the song and paused thoughtfully before speaking.

"I didn't see you, you know. I just knew you were there somehow. It was like I could feel you there or something. It was strange. Sorry, I'm not making much sense, I'm too tired."

"No, I know what you mean…" I had felt the same thing when I knew that it was Edward playing before I had entered the room. I felt suddenly exposed and my mind grasped for a topic change.

"Would you like to go grab a drink?" Edward asked. Maybe he sensed the tension as well.

I checked my watch and was surprised to see it was already past three. "I should probably give sleep another try, but a drink first sounds good."

He nodded and stood up from bench, motioning for me to go first. We headed back through the lobby where Edward thanked the woman at the desk before we proceeded into the restaurant.

He went to the bar to order something with alcohol but I hunted down some herbal tea before settling into the booth Edward had chosen. "You know alcohol won't help you sleep. Well, it will help put you to sleep, but the quality of your sleep will be less."

"Is that so?"

"Yep, studies show that alcohol consumed directly before sleep can result in disruptions to the second half of the sleep cycle." _Way to spew random facts at him, Bella!_ I shouted at myself.

"Reading sleep studies is a hobby of yours, is it?"

"Not really, I've just done a lot of research over the years. Practical knowledge and all that…"

"So, sleepless nights aren't new to you then?"

"I've had my share of them," I said evasively. The last thing I wanted to talk about right now were my nightmares.

"So…" I decided to attempt a topic change and get the focus away from me. "I've read all the label biographies on you and the band, but I had no idea that you were classically trained. I mean I know you guys write your own stuff and it's obvious that you know your way around the technical aspects of music… Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. You play wonderfully," I ended lamely.

He smiled. "Thank you. I've actually been playing since I was very young. My mother played, and when I showed an interest she started teaching me. I think music helped me to keep my sanity over the years. There's something about being able to pour your soul into playing whether you're ecstatic or depressed. I've always found it very cathartic.

"Even to this day, something will move me and I have to play to get it out. Otherwise, it'll just sit in my head and eat away at me."

"Ah, so that's why you seek out the piano when you're decision making."

"Exactly," his smile widened and I felt my heart melt. "What about you, is work your outlet?"

"I don't know about that. I mean I love my work. When I'm into a project that I love, I get into this mindset where everything flows and falls into place. It's almost like an adrenalin rush when everything is going well. But as far as outlets go, mine is probably Alice; we talk about everything.

"She knows me very well, better than I know myself sometimes. And she has a way of pulling problems out of me and getting me to talk about things when I'm trying to bury or hide them." I felt myself blush as I realized we were working our way around to my problems again. I wondered if he was doing this on purpose.

"That makes sense, but when she's stressed out like she is now, she must be less in-tune with you. Not to mention that she's busy so she would have less time to spend on things like that. So you took her shopping today to help her de-stress, but what did you do for yourself?"

Damn, he was perceptive. I made a production of removing my tea bag and adding some honey to my tea while I thought about how to answer his question.

"Well, I think Alice's performance in the parking lot today was stress relief for the both of us." I chuckled and watched his reaction.

I saw the disapproval creep across his face but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Are you looking forward to the start of the festival shows next week?"

We were finally heading into a handful of dates that were summer festivals. They were enjoyable, not only because they had lots of local food and vendors, but they also had a lot of different bands. It was like an all day party. Alice and I always enjoyed the atmosphere.

"Yeah! Alice is already gushing about the natural light and all the photographic possibilities it presents. You guys are pretty active on stage and if we don't have to time our shots around your light show, we can get some action shots. Esme has high hopes that that we can get lots of material for promo use so make sure you look pretty."

"I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do," he said with a raised eyebrow.

I was starting to feel myself get tired again which was a dangerous thing around Edward. I always found his presence intoxicating, but now with the laughs and smiles he was giving me, I was smitten. I needed to get to the safety of my room before I said something I regretted.

"Well, I think it's time for me to give sleep another try. Alice will be less than impressed if I pass out during our call. Plus, I need to be on the ball in case she sets out to kill anyone."

Edward chuckled as I stood up.

"You think I'm joking. She's dangerous when she's mad. Ok, goodnight, Edward. Thanks for keeping me company."

"Same to you. Good night," he said with a small bow of his head. He stood as I left the table.

As I left the restaurant, I glanced back and saw him watching me with a crooked grin. I waved at him a final time and walked into an open elevator. Impressively, when I got to my room, I managed to get the door open, undress and get under the covers without waking Alice. I was still smiling as I drifted off to sleep.

-==\\/==-


	8. Chapter Eight: Mistakes

I apologize for the update fail. I try to tell life that I'm busy writing and can't be interrupted, but it doesn't seem to care!

My fantastic Betas, Lulu M and LouderThanSirens manage to fit me into their lives even when its summer and everything is insane. Thank you.

I love reviews. I am a review whore, I admit it. Thank you to those of you that feed my addiction.

And now on to the good stuff…

-==\\/==-

Chapter Eight

Mistakes

_Bella POV_

I rolled out of bed, literally. It was the easiest way to get out of the coffins the rest of the crew liked to refer to as bunks. After all this time on the road, sleeping on the bus was starting to get a little old. Thank god we got to sleep in hotels most nights. I groaned and called to Alice, poking her through her privacy curtain.

"We've stopped moving. We must be here."

"Shower," was all I that heard from the other bunk. I grunted in response.

After making ourselves presentable enough to not send strangers running in terror, we staggered from the bus. We hissed at the ball of fire in the sky that tried to sear our eyeballs and made a beeline for the venue. As our vision adjusted to the light level inside, we spotted Emmett and Carlisle standing in the middle of the large empty room looking over some paperwork. Alice was still muttering a string of curse words and complaints about the brightness of the sun as we approached, causing them to look up.

They tried to hide it, but I saw the laughter cross their faces as they took in our fresh-from-sleep look. They were brave men, or perhaps just very stupid. I glared at them and Emmett cleared his throat, dropping his eyes back to the paperwork in front of him.

"Carlisle," I said, somehow managing to form syllables through the cotton in my mouth. "Where can we shower?" 

"Is that a trick question?" he asked with mock seriousness.

"Carlisle," I said as I narrow my eyes. "We have been travelling in a bus for two days straight, we just woke up, and we haven't had caffeine yet. You're going to want to consider the next words out of your mouth very, very carefully."

I swore I saw the corner of his mouth pull up, but I let it pass. "In the dressing room, you can use that one."

"Thank you." I turned with Alice toward the beacon of hot water and cleanliness.

"There's only one though. You'll have to take turns," he called distractedly, his mind back on whatever he and Emmett were looking at.

"Maybe…" Alice trilled as she sauntered on toward the back of the building.

How she sauntered in sweats, I'll never know, but she pulled it off. I saw both men's jaws open slightly before they recovered. I managed to hold off high fiving her till we were out of sight. It was times like this that I remembered I was still in training with a master of the art of smart ass.

-==\\/==-

Standing behind the stage, I saw Alice approach and brought my finger to my lips before pointing up to the stage. Technically, I wasn't eavesdropping; at least I didn't start out with that intention. I was standing here waiting for Alice to finish her shower before the guys showed up for soundcheck.

The reasonable part of my brain tried to tell me that 'I was here first' didn't really cut it as far as excuses went, and that standing here listening to their conversation was the textbook definition of eavesdropping. I told it to shut up and sipped my coffee as Emmett's voice came closer.

"Then she walked away all sexy-like saying, '_maybe._'"

"They were fucking with you again, Emmett," Jasper said as Edward snorted and rifled through a guitar case.

"Whatever, man, it was hot as fuck. Speaking of hot as fuck, this is Charlotte's town isn't it? Are you hooking up with her tonight, Eddie?" Emmett said. I heard him settle in behind his kit as Jasper laughed.

"Haven't you noticed, Emmett? Edward hasn't seen any of his old flames in a while. He's found someone else that's caught his attention. No more distractions for him." The sound of Jasper's voice made his smile obvious.

Edward muttered and said something that sounded like, "both of you just shut the fuck up."

When it was quiet for a minute, I started walking toward the front of house and said loudly to Alice, "…So I think you should get some more black and white film on your next run to the store. We have a couple more festivals coming up, and the shots from the last one came out amazing. We might as well take advantage of the natural lighting again."

Alice nodded and took a gulp of coffee.

"Good afternoon, Alice, Bella," Jasper said with a nod of his head.

"Oh, hey guys." Alice looked up with an expression of surprise on her face. I took a moment to fully appreciate her acting ability and made a mental note to never play poker with her.

Emmett looked up with a shit eating grin. "Did you two enjoy your shower?"

I noted the use of the singular, 'shower' and smiled.

"Oh yeah. It was fan-fucking-tastic. There's nothing like a hot, wet, shower to really burn off built up tension, you know," Alice trilled as she turned to me with a wide smile.

I tried not to burst out laughing and ruin the moment, but one look at Emmett and I lost it. Everyone else followed suit. Emmett joined in but I could see the slightest disappointment on his face and I shook my head.

Jasper jumped off the stage and approached us. "Are you guys coming to Pete's tonight?" he asked, but he was definitely only looking at Alice. I grinned as Alice met his gaze unabashedly. It wasn't quite an eye fuck, but it was close.

"Pete's?" I asked.

"It's a local bar that a friend of ours owns. It's a good place, good drinks, and very down to earth. I bet you'd like it, Bella."

Alice smiled as I opened my mouth.

"Oh definitely, thanks for the heads up!" she said before I had a chance to speak. She waved to the guys on stage and bounced off.

I caught up to her and huffed, "You don't always have to speak for me. I'm not a complete workaholic you know. Maybe I actually wanted to go tonight."

Alice stopped and looked at me in shock before she was overcome with laughter.

"It wasn't _that_ funny, Alice." I turned my back to her in annoyance and started walking.

We had made it back to the bus just as she was starting to get control of herself. "Well if you wanted to go anyway, there's no problem with me accepting is there?" she said with infuriating logic.

I muttered and wandered off to the back room of the bus.

-==\\/==-

_Edward POV_

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I had to deal with a phone call from New York."

Taking a seat at the end of the table, I looked over the group. I was at least an hour late to the bar and drinking was already well under way. The empty bottles and shot glasses were piling up around Sam and Jacob. Every time the waitress tried to take them away, she got shooed off while the men muttered about her trying to take away their hard earned trophies. Alice, Carlisle and Jasper were playing quarters, and Bella was watching them. She couldn't stop laughing as the two men kept missing and drinking, and consequently missing worse and drinking more.

Alice had obviously managed to drag Bella along for the night out and I was happy to see her relaxed and having fun. She had a large fruity drink in front of her that I assumed to be something non-alcoholic. Alice and Bella usually came out and had a lot of fun with us, but I'd never seen them close to drunk in all the time we spent together. Alice had a shot in front of her, but at the rate that Carlisle and Jasper were going she was never going to drink it.

I ordered my usual and watched Bella across the table. She absolutely enthralled me. When she laughed, the sound was like music. Her warm brown eyes sparkled and danced, and she was flushed ever so slightly. She looked up at me and smiled. My gaze settled on her full lips as she licked them slightly. I traveled up her face, back to the deep chocolate brown eyes that had been haunting my thoughts lately. We locked eyes and I felt a pleasant shiver of electricity run through my body. I couldn't turn away.

Jasper jumped up, shouting triumphantly and slapped me on the back. "Ha!"

"Very good, Jasper," Alice said in a voice that would have been appropriate for potty training a three year old. "It only took you three shots to get there too."

"There's definitely something wrong with this quarter. Normally, I'm very good at this," Jasper slurred.

Carlisle snorted and Bella looked away quickly as she stifled her laughter. I shook my head slightly, trying to clear the haze that seemed to settle on my brain whenever I was around Bella.

"What the hell?" Jasper continued. "Where did you get this, Alice? No wonder my aim is all off. This is a Canadian quarter! The composition is totally different you know."

Alice shook her head and took the quarter from Jasper landing it perfectly in the glass. She smiled at him smugly.

The table ordered another round, and we broke into conversation. I had never seen Bella so animated and engaged before. Usually she was perfectly happy to listen and passively take part in an evening of fun. It never bothered me; I was a fairly low key person myself. Watching other people have fun and make fools of themselves while drunk was very entertaining. I never felt the need to be the one dancing on the table.

The only thing that bothered me about Bella's shyness was that it was hard to learn anything about her. Of course, I knew the things I saw every day. How she worked, how she related to us and Alice, but it was hard to get her to talk about anything other than work. I found myself wanting to know what she thought about, her opinions, what she liked and hated. I wanted to know if she had good parents, and if she was close to her family. In these ways the woman was a complete stranger to me.

I started paying attention to the conversation again as Bella continued a tale about Alice's brief affair with the dramatic arts in university.

"So, when we got back from the weekend we saw Phantom of The Opera in New York, Alice was suddenly infatuated with live theatre. I tried to talk her out of pursuing it because I knew she'd hate it. Alice does not do well with structured creativity." Bella shot a look at Alice who stuck out her tongue.

"I don't know how she did it, considering she wasn't enrolled in the program, but she got into a drama class and ended up with the most pretentious asshole for a professor. I'm not making that up, that's actually what other teachers said about him.

"I'm sure you can imagine how Alice and a person like that would clash. The professor ended up retiring that year. I think it was mostly because on opening night, Alice sang her song with… new and improved lyrics."

Bella proceeded to sing the piece, complete with the lyrics Alice had rewritten. They were downright vulgar, but very, very funny.

Alice was laughing so hard she was turning red. Eventually, she caught her breath. "Bella, what the hell are you drinking?"

"Hurricanes!" she said proudly. "Jacob suggested them. They're the local specialty, apparently, and they're fantastic. They don't even taste like alcohol."

I groaned and pointed at her glass. "You mean that's not virgin?"

"Why Edward, that's a rather forward question. Usually a guy takes me out on a date or two before we start talking about that kind of thing," she said seriously, and then burst out laughing.

"Bella, you're a lightweight, and those things are going to put you flat on your ass. How many have you had?"

"This is my…second, no third!" She held up four fingers.

I shook my head. "You need to come with me before someone has to carry you home. It's time for you to go to bed."

"Oooh," she said jumping into my lap and throwing her arms around my neck. "Are you coming with me then?"

"Bella!" Alice said, suddenly serious.

"Relax, Alice. I'm joking. Edward is a gentleman. He wouldn't take advantage of a situation like this," she said as she planted a kiss on my cheek.

I shook my head wondering which god was watching over me, and if this was a punishment or reward. I should have encouraged Alice to go with Bella, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Stay here, Alice. It's okay. Jasper needs to win back his honor. I'll make sure she gets back to your room safely." Jasper scowled at me, and Alice looked like staying was going against her better judgment.

I walked out of the bar with Bella. The night was warm, but not uncomfortable. There had been a light rain while we were inside, and the air was fresh and clean. Bella laughed and twirled around with her arms out as we walked. I jogged a couple steps to catch her when she stumbled as I knew she would.

Bella giggled and smiled brilliantly at me before tucking herself under my arm and snuggling into my side.

"I really like hurricanes," she said happily. 

I chucked and shook my head. "Something tells me that you aren't going to be such a big fan in the morning."

She poked me in the side. "Edward Masen, don't you dare rain on my wonderful mood."

"Yes, drunkenness can do that. You certainly seem to be a happy drunk. You're beautiful too. I might have to keep up a constant stream of mildly dirty jokes to keep you that color when you're sober." Even as the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Not because it wasn't true, but because Bella was in no condition for me to be telling her how exquisite I thought she was.

I heard her giggle again, and she put her arms around my waist. "You're not so bad yourself, you know."

I let myself enjoy the feeling of her pressed into me as we walked the rest of the way to the hotel. I looked down at her as we waited for the elevator and watched her bite at her lip. She was driving me insane and she wasn't even trying. If she put even the slightest effort into seduction, she would be a very dangerous creature.

Bella stepped back and looked at me thoughtfully as the elevator doors closed. Something wicked played across her face as she took a step closer to me, bringing her chest close enough to almost touch me.

"You know, Edward, I've always thought you were very handsome." She bit her lip again and trailed a finger from my waist up to my chest. I felt every muscle in my body tense as I gasped. Bella licked her lips lusciously. "I've thought about kissing you so many times…" She moved up on her toes, pressing herself fully against me. Her arm settled on the back of my neck, encouraging me to lower my lips so that she could reach them. My body was on fire from the contact. I was leaning down to meet her, even as my brain screamed warnings at me.

The elevator dinged and the door opened. _Saved by the bell,_ I thought as I shook myself. "Bella this is our floor. Come on." I fought to keep my voice even as I regained my will. A moan of disappointment escaped her lips. The sound was so sexy that I almost picked her up and ran to my room.

"And here I thought you were so good at pleasing women, Edward," she said as the dangerously playful edge came back to her voice.

"Bella, I swear that if you weren't drunk, you would be in my room right now screaming my name." I laughed and hoped that verbal banter would be enough to placate her. My pants became uncomfortable as I thought of all the things I'd like to do to make her scream my name. This was a really bad time for me to be losing control of my dick.

We reached her room, and she put her back to the wall, leaning tantalizingly again. Jesus, when did she become such a sexpot?

"Bella, where's your key?"

"In my pocket," she purred at me. She fucking purred!

I took a deep breath and calmed myself yet again. "Can you give it to me, please?"

"Oh, I could, but wouldn't you rather do it?" I looked down at her tight jeans and begged to any deity that happened to be listening to give me strength.

"That could be fun, but let's save it for another night. Get your key for me, please."

She pouted and pulled out her key. Then, she ran her hand down my arm softly. "You know I was only joking with Alice right? I would be quite happy to have you take advantage of me, Edward."

I didn't answer her; I just slid the key card in the door and pulled her inside the room. "Okay time for you to get to bed. Take your shoes off."

I turned back to her. Her eyes were filled with lust as she stared at me and slowly licked her bottom lip. Everything she did made how much she wanted me obvious. The conflict between what my body wanted and what my mind knew I needed to do reached a painful level.

"Edward, please..." Her voice was low and seductive but it was still filled with need. It was the final blow to my self-control.

She must have seen the change, because she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. Running her hands up my back, she sighed softly as her hands reached my head and ran through my hair. I pushed the door closed behind her, and then pressed her into it. My hands settled on her cheeks and my forehead rested on hers.

"This is wrong, Bella." I panted, praying that she would finally tell me to stop.

She shook her head slightly before pulling my head down until our lips met. My hands pressed against the door as I leaned in and kissed her gently, but this definitely wasn't what Bella wanted. She let out a sigh of frustration and bit at my lips. I groaned, and pressed her harder against the door. I knew I was losing control, but I couldn't seem to care at that moment. I gave in and opened my mouth kissing her roughly. She met me every step of the way as our tongues danced. Bella thrust her hips into mine and she moaned into my mouth.

I moved my hands from the door and ran them slowly down her shoulders, grazing the sides of her breasts. She shuddered and I continued, moving down slowly over her waist and hips to her thighs. I grabbed her legs and pulled them up around my hips.

"Oh, Edward." I kissed down her neck while grinding myself into her amazing heat.

"Bella…" I said, panting again. I looked into her eyes again and saw that they were filled with fire. She was beyond caring what I did to her and my throbbing erection had no problem with that. But this was Bella, and this was not how I wanted things to go with her. She meant more to me than this and I needed to take control of the situation. I closed my eyes and tried to regain some of my willpower even though I wanted her so very badly.

I kissed her tenderly once more as I lowered her gently to the ground. "You need to sleep, Bella. I won't do this now."

She looked up at me angrily. "Fine," she said and stomped over toward her bed. "Don't come crying to me if you never get this chance again!"

She crawled under the covers fully clothed, with her shoes on. I would have laughed at the petulant look on her face if the thought of never touching her again didn't hurt me so very badly.

"You need to take your shoes off at least, love," I said, going over to her and fishing a foot out. I took one shoe off and then the other. I looked down at her as she lay there. Her dark hair was spread out wildly, and her lips were red and puffy from our kissing. A wonderful soft blush spread across her cheeks. She was beyond beautiful. I couldn't help but lean down and kiss her gently on the forehead. Bella huffed and turned over.

I reciprocated her hang over ministrations by making sure there was a large bottle of water at her bedside and retrieving her Aspirin from my room. By the time I got back to place it on the table, she was snoring softly.

I sighed and stalked back to my room. I couldn't bring myself to regret stopping what would definitely have been a huge mistake, but there was a part of me (and that part was not _entirely_ in my pants) that was very disgruntled for passing up a chance to be with Bella.

I was also beginning to realize just how big of a part of my life Bella was becoming.

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

"Oh god," I rasped into the semi-dark room. I heard a tinkle of laughter from the bathroom.

"My head. My poor, poor head. It will never be the same again," I lamented into the covers that I had pulled above my eyes.

"Good morning, Bella, dear. How do you feel?"

"Like a five thousand pound elephant spent the night jumping on my head. Jesus, I'm never drinking again."

"You say that now. Take some Aspirin. Edward left them for you." She emphasized Edward's name very suggestively.

I tried to get my mind started through the fog of sleep, alcohol, and the elephant.

Edward. The key-card…

The door…

The kissing…

The grinding…

"OH GOD!" I shouted, jumping up in bed, and then immediately regretted it as the room started moving violently. I threw my head down into my hands and started chanting, "No, no, no, no, no…I didn't…oh crap, oh crap."

Alice started off amused at my display, but narrowed her eyes as it continued. "What did you do?"

"Oh, Alice! Why did you let me out of your sight with him? This is not good at all. I was so drunk. I didn't realize how strong the drinks were, and they were so good…and then he looked so good and why not…my filter was gone!" I was rapidly descending into incoherency.

"Bella, calm down." She went to the night stand and got some Aspirin and my water. She settled onto the bed across from mine and looked at me, seemingly torn between humor and exasperation. "Take these. To answer your first question, when you perched yourself in Edward's lap and stated that he was a gentleman and would never take advantage of you, you kind of took it out of my hands. Basically, I had to disagree with you to get you away from him.

"He didn't have that much to drink and I thought that you would be fine. Apparently, I was wrong." She frowned. "What happened?"

"I practically threw myself at him," I wailed, but as the night came back in increasing clarity, I reconsidered. "No, I did throw myself at him. In fact, I think I put Lauren to shame last night." I threw my head into my hands, completely mortified.

She winced at the mention of Lauren, but recovered quickly. "Bella, it's okay. He wasn't drunk and nothing happened, right? I mean, this is what happens when people drink, sometimes. I'm sure he won't hold it against you."

I groaned. "If nothing happened and I just made a complete ass of myself, I could live with that. This though…"

Alice got very serious. "Okay, what exactly did you two do?"

I filled her in on the kissing, the groping, and the grinding. Oh God, the grinding. My whole body tingled at the memory. The whole incident was beyond fantastic as far as my hormones and certain body parts were concerned. However, every rational part of me knew that getting up close and personal with Edward wasn't a good thing, not only for me, but for Alice as well. We were lumped into the same category. If I was seen as anything less than professional and respectable, she would be too.

Alice thought my story over. "Well, there's nothing that can be done now. It sounds like he stopped it before it went too far. Seriously, we'll deal with it if it comes up. Don't look so horrified, Bella. If it happened like you say, Edward was most definitely not an unwilling participant." I looked up and caught the tail end of her smirk.

-==\\/==-


	9. Chapter Nine: Old Friends

You watch as a slight young woman crosses the stage and adjusts the microphone stand for her height. She taps the mic lightly a couple of times to test that it's working. She pauses a moment and clears her throat before beginning to speak.

"Hello, my name is Alice Brandon. I'm here to make a statement on behalf of Cats77."

Alice pulls a napkin out of her pocket and turns her head to the side of the stage. Even though she lowers her voice to a whisper you can still hear part of the one sided argument.

"A napkin? Really? Couldn't you at least get a piece of paper from the printer? Yeah yeah yeah…I'm doing it.

Alice clears her throat and begins again.

"On behalf of the author of this fic, I would like to apologize for the delay in updating with chapter nine. Unforeseen circumstances lead to a hiccup in the schedule and…"

Alice stops mid sentence and her face contorts with disgust and turns to the side again. "This is so uptight, you don't talk like this." She flips the napkin over and shakes her head, turning back in your direction, she continues to speak. "Look, what she wrote, it's horrible. I think she must be nervous or something. I'll tell you what happened in my own words. She got writers block and then one of her Betas got a serious case of the real life blues – get well soon, by the way! – by the time emails were swapped and a back up beta was contacted the update was extremely late. Not to mention the fact that the betas had their work cut out for them. Even with the writer's block, this is the second longest chapter of the story so far."

Alice shoots an evil grin to her left side, presumably to the unseen person she was arguing with before. She removes the mic from the stand and moves to the edge of the stage where she sits down.

"Now this is where I come into the story. See, Cats thought you all might not take the late update so well. Her brilliant plan was to bribe me to come out and talk to you because she thought you might be a little less likely to hurt me. Personally I would have enjoyed seeing her sweat it out, but apparently her original story outline has me waiting until chapter seventeen to get my hands on Jasper. _Seventeen._

"Well that was obviously unacceptable, but you know how authors can be. Once they have a plan they dig their heels in. This was the only way I could speed up my timeline a little. She wouldn't budge for poor Bella though. Mind you Bella does have a lot to work through, what with…"

"_ALICE!_" a voice yells from out of sight.

"Oh right, giving things away. Sorry, I didn't mean to be a tease. Anyway…so I'm told a lot of you liked how I handled the skank squad – aka Lauren and Jessica. I'm actually not proud of losing my cool, but I'm hopeful that they're history now since they seem to be leaving us alone."

"So, this chapter finds Bella and me at an outdoor festival in Texas. Bella is freaking out over her little rendezvous with Edward, of course. That girl over thinks things too much I tell you. Don't worry though, I'll keep her on track. It's part of my sisterly duty."

"Let them read it for themselves. Say goodbye, Alice," the unseen voice says again.

"Wasn't the whole plan for me to come out and talk so you wouldn't have to, Cats? I swear, some people. Anyway, Cats assures me that chapter ten is written and being looked over by her beloved Betas at this very moment and she will post it the second it comes back to make up for her tardiness. Oh and don't hate her please. There, that should fulfill my contract to get me some Jasper lovin' sooner.

"Goodbye, everyone, enjoy the story. I have a tall, blond, devastatingly handsome man with an awesome ass to stalk."

"Oops, almost forgot the important stuff! Cats77 doesn't not own Twilight or any of the characters. She's responsible only for the plotline in this story. She would also like to thank LuluM, SandandSirens, VotreAmant and her twilighted Vbeta, aresoldoc."

Alice hops up and waves as she exits the stage.

-==\\/==-

Chapter Nine

Old Friends

"Oh, look! Deep fried chocolate bars!"

I rolled my eyes and followed Alice to the food stand. "Alice, you're probably not even a hundred pounds soaking wet. Where are you going to put all this food?"

She handed over the funnel cake she was working on and fished out some money for a deep fried snickers bar. Over the last twenty minutes, I had watched her order an alarming amount of food as we explored the vendors looking for lunch. I stuck with the fairly tame fried chicken and old fashioned lemonade. Alice had insisting on trying everything new that she could sink her teeth into. Considering we were currently at one of the largest festivals in Texas, that was a lot of food.

We found a picnic table and finally settled in to eat. I watched with fascination as Alice arranged the dishes around her in order of consumption. Apparently, the fried snickers bar was an appetizer, while the pulled pork sandwich and deep fried corn constituted the main course. She was saving the deep fried Oreos for dessert.

I shuddered and picked at my chicken while scanning the crowd around us. I had managed to avoid Edward since my indiscretion at the hotel the night before last. We packed up and left for Texas early yesterday morning and the band had press lined up for a good portion of the day today. It wasn't a good long term strategy, but for now, it was working.

"You can't avoid him forever you know."

"What? I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" I stuttered. It was horribly unconvincing, even by my standards.

Alice looked at me over her corn cob with a raised eyebrow that clearly said she agreed with my assessment.

"I just don't know what I'm going to say to him. I threw myself at him…God, he must think I'm some kind of-" I hesitated and searched for the words that were vile enough.

"Human female who was drunk off her ass and finds him fuck-hot? Yes, I can see how you'd think he would be horrified by you. His ego must already lie in ruins."

I blushed and returned to picking at my chicken. "Do you know how many women fall all over themselves to paw at him every day? How can I even hope to make an impression when that's my competition? And let's not forget his hook-ups."

"Bella, if you start putting yourself down again, I will come over there and throttle you. I'm not sure how successful I'll be with all this grease on my hands, but I'll give it a damn good try. As for your competition and his hook-ups, are you blind?"

I did my best owl impression by blinking at her blankly. She shook her head and sighed.

"Have you seen him with anyone in the last two months? Edward hasn't given anything female the time of day. Your little groping session is probably the most action he's seen since before Denver. Besides, as I said to you yesterday morning, he was definitely into it. Apparently, I also need to remind you that while you were drunk, he was more or less sober. He knew what he was getting into, and he enjoyed it. Think about that while you're running all over the place trying to avoid him."

She was smug, but as usual she was right, and she knew it.

"Oh my god! You have to try this." She handed me a fork full of fried batter, whipped cream and dark syrup.

There didn't look to be any questionable meat involved, so I tried the mystery food. It was bizarre, but good.

"What the hell is it?"

"Fried Coca-Cola."

"Putting aside the fact that someone actually came up with that idea…how on earth do you deep-fry a beverage?"

"They make a batter with it, I think. And the sauce is the syrup they use to make the soda."

"I'm equally distressed by the food here and how much you know about it, Alice."

She beamed at me proudly.

"Holy Shit! Alice, Bella, is that you?"

We both turned to see a blur of a person running towards us and attaching himself to Alice. It only took us a second to recognize him.

"Riley! Holy crap, I didn't even know you guys were playing here. You're not on the roster," I said once he had released me from a rib splitting hug.

"We were a last minute addition to the line-up. Someone dropped out and we were in the area, so we landed the gig."

Riley was the singer for a band called _The Newborns_. We worked with them a few times over the years, and they were all good friends. One of the little known facts about Riley is that, despite his womanizing, tough guy persona, he was very gay. He wasn't ashamed or hiding that fact, the label just thought it was better for the band's hardcore image.

"Spill it, girls. We haven't talked in forever! I hear from Esme that you're hooked up with Midnight Sun now? Unf. Jasper is all kinds of hot. You are lucky, lucky, bitches."

I heard Alice growl and laughed before she glared at me. I shoved the chicken leg back in my mouth to ensure that my tongue behaved.

Riley narrowed his eyes and gave Alice a calculating look. "Oh, now that's new. I thought you never mixed business and pleasure?" He formed air-quotes to highlight the phrase. It had been a point of contention more than once when he had tried to get us out on the prowl with him in the past.

"I wasn't the one playing tonsil hockey with Edward while pinned up against a hotel room door!"

Riley's head turned toward me so fast, I was sure he must have sprained something.

I lowered the chicken leg and kept my eyes on my plate. "Well, I was kind of drunk at the time."

His eyes bulged out in surprise. "Drunk _and _sampling the goods? There is obviously a story here and I must hear it. Let's take your…" he eyed the plates in front of Alice with distaste, "…food and go back to the bus. The other guys will want to see you again too. Then, you can spill your guts on everything up to and including how good Edward is with his tongue."

Riley must have seen the cornered animal look in my eyes because he came over and draped his arm around me.

"Bella, you wouldn't be thinking of trying to run from me would you? I can always go ask Edward what happened."

"You wou…" I started, but as Riley raised his eyebrows incredulously, I realized he would, and he would enjoy it too.

"Fine, fine, let's go. I haven't had quite enough torment for one day yet."

The three of us gathered up Alice's food and started toward the artist area where the buses were parked. Alice and Riley were lost in their conversation and pulled ahead of me. Looking around the large parking lot, I started to give serious thought to disappearing again. Then, I remembered that we had left the secondary bus at the hotel this morning. The band bus was the only place I had to go, and that meant facing Edward while Jasper and Emmett watched me turn various shades of red.

I stopped and took in my surroundings. Alice was already climbing the stairs and Riley finally seemed to have noticed my absence. The movement of a vehicle to my left caught my attention. As the golf cart came to a stop, Edward stepped out and froze. The blush started immediately as he looked at me, but then he turned and his glance fell on Riley who was quickly approaching me.

Apparently, Riley didn't notice our audience as he came up to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "Bella, I'm not going to use nipple clamps and make you talk or anything. If you don't want to tell me about it, you don't have to. There's no need for a blush like that."

He smiled reassuringly and led me onto the bus. Alice was already catching up with the rest of the band. When they saw me, I was quickly enveloped in friendly hugs.

-==\\/==-

_Rosalie POV_

Fucking Texas.

Not that I disliked Texas, I really didn't. The fact that everything was sticking to me in nasty and uncomfortable ways was the real problem. Honestly, it was my own fault for coming here in the middle of June. I took another long drink from my water bottle and paced outside the radio station trailer.

That was problem number two. When I arranged this trip, Emmett had a free day and we were planning on spending every minute of it together. Since then, the festival had been booked, and the day filled up with press interviews.

Now, instead of our wonderful day locked in a hotel room, Emmett and I hadn't had a minute alone yet. At least the guys were scheduled to go on early today. By four o'clock, Emmett and I should be on our way to the hotel where no one would bother us for at least eighteen hours. Not if they valued their lives anyway.

We had so little time together during a national tour. These little visits kept us both sane. It also made anything that kept us apart while I was visiting more annoying than usual. I growled at the elaborate speaker setup in front of the trailer as I listened to one inane question after the other.

Finally, the interview came to an end, and I let out a sigh of relief. This was the last press of the day for them. Now I just had about two more hours before the band played their set and we could all cut and run. Emmett, Jasper and Edward stepped down out of the trailer and headed for the golf cart that was taking us all back to the artist area.

"Finally!" Emmett said as he came over and wrapped his arms around me.

We all participated in a healthy DJ bashing session as we drove past the concert goers.

"That had to be the worse one yet. Can't we prescreen them for I.Q. or something, baby?" Emmett said to me with his best pout.

"Ah come on, Em, he wasn't _that_ bad," Jasper said.

"The dude called me Emmett McCartney, for fuck sakes."

"I know that it's annoying, but if you only want to be interviewed by smart DJs, that's going to really cut into your promo opportunities. I'll try to make sure they know your name from now on though. How's that?" That was me, always the negotiator.

Emmett pouted again as we all had a good laugh. Although I would never admit it, I missed joking with these guys when I wasn't around. We didn't always get along perfectly, but Edward and Jasper were like brothers. This lifestyle meant that there were times that we practically lived together. The fact that we all felt like family made everything so much easier.

We were climbing out of the golf cart to enjoy some downtime in the air-conditioned bus, when I saw Edward staring down the road very intently. Following his line of sight, I saw Bella stop dead in her tracks and turn beet red before a man I recognized as the lead singer for one of our other acts came back and threw one arm around her to guide her into his bus while laughing loudly

"What was that all about?" I asked as I turned to Edward.

He stomped up the stairs as I looked to Jasper and Emmett with raised eyebrows. They both just shook their heads and followed after him. The moment we were all inside, Edward started in on a tirade I could only assume he was continuing from earlier.

"Why is she avoiding me and why in the hell is she getting on _The Newborn's_ bus? Did you see how Riley was hanging all over her? The fucker screws anything that moves. What does she want with him? And where is Alice?"

I snickered as he turned his anger my way. Emmett sat down and pulled me into his lap.

"Something you'd care to add, Rosalie?" Edward said with a sneer.

"Oh no, first I want to know what's going on. Then I'll share what I know."

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously wanting to know my information but not wanting to reveal any himself.

I could feel Emmett fidgeting in anticipation under me. I grinned widely, besides the fact that his movements were doing wonderful things to me, I knew that I'd know what was going on sooner rather than later. Emmett was obviously in on the secret, and he kept secrets like a sieve kept water. I started counting down from ten in my head figuring if Edward didn't come out with it by the time I finished, Emmett would. I barely got to five.

"Edward has it bad for Bella." Edward gaped at him, and I hid my shock behind a snide look. Jasper laughed loudly at Edward's indignation.

"Oh, and Jasper wants Alice." Emmett added as an afterthought. Jasper's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Bella and Alice? _Our_ Bella and Alice?"

Edward sighed and fell down onto the couch. "We had a moment the other night. Now she seems to be avoiding me."

"Define moment."

"There may have been some kissing and…stuff."

Oh great. The ever articulate Edward was using the word stuff. "Did you fuck her?" 

"Must you be so crass, Rosalie?" 

"Give it a rest. I know you remember? You're not some proper Victorian gentleman. I know about your girls, and I don't think it's fair to Bella for you to make her one of them. I don't know her that well, but I know she's not the type."

"No, I didn't fuck her. We kissed and it got a little heated before I put a stop to it. She was drunk and I refused to take advantage of her. Regardless of what you seem to think, I'm not the type of guy that would do something like that."

"I know you're not, Edward. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It just surprised me. Those two are kind of known for not getting involved with the guys they work with."

"That doesn't surprise me. Look it's…complicated, but I'm not just looking for a one night stand with her."

I turned that over in my mind a few times before turning to Jasper. He was silently making his way to the back of the bus, obviously hoping to avoid the inquisition. "And you?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Uh huh. But you want to? What about them? Are they interested? Are they coming on to you?"

"Until that night, I thought she might be interested, but Bella never said or did anything," Edward said, eyeing Jasper.

"Same, they're not pursuing us if that's what you're asking." Jasper sighed.

"Well, that's interesting." I grimaced as I realized I needed to find out what was going on between these four and that it might cut into my time with Emmett. I debated my options quickly. My first option was to stay here and try to figure things out through the guys. Considering the fact that they were male, this was surely the most time consuming method. Jasper was fairly intuitive, but Edward was downright delusional about his own emotions at times.

My second option was to go directly to the source. Since I knew that Bella and Alice were nothing more than friends with Riley and his band, I was willing to bet money that even though we hadn't seen her, Alice was with Bella.

I jumped up, startling everyone. The sooner I started, the quicker I'd be done with it. I scooped up my purse and planted a kiss on my man.

"I'll be back in a little bit."

The last thing I heard as I slammed the bus door behind me was Edward stammering, "…But wait, you didn't tell me about…"

Sure, it was evil not to tell Edward that Riley was no threat to him where Bella was concerned, but being evil is fun! A few minutes later I knocked on the door of _The Newborn's_ bus. I saw Riley peek through the curtain and brighten as he saw me.

"Rosie!" he sang as he threw the door open.

"Riley, if you call me Rosie again, you won't have to worry about being led around by your dick anymore. I'll cut it off."

"Still my lovely demure Rose, I see." He laughed and pulled me in for a hug.

"All our old friends are showing up today, first Bella and Alice, now you. To what do I owe this honor?"

I glanced up at the bus and closed the door so we could have some privacy outside. I may as well use the situation to my full advantage. Riley loved to gossip. Maybe I could get an outside opinion of Bella and Alice from him.

"I figure that you've managed to find out what's going on with Bella and Alice by now. Fill me in."

Riley pressed his lips together thoughtfully. "I know you, Rosalie Hale. You're here to sniff them out and see if they're up to something. Bella and Alice are good ones. There are no ulterior motives there. In fact, I think they're still freaking out about the whole workplace involvement issue."

"You're biased because your friends with them, Riley. Look, I'm not looking to rip any heads off. I just want to make sure…" I shook my head and started again. "I know I've been working with them for a while but I've never actually met them. We only ever communicate through email and then it's all work."

"And you're protective of you're guys even if you'd rather eat nails than admit it. I know, I know. How about this? If you can forego your marathon sex session for a few more hours we'll all go out to dinner tonight. Then we can both see the sparks fly in person."

Riley smiled wickedly and I found myself agreeing quickly. As reluctant as I was to waste any of my visit, getting to know Bella and Alice was something I needed to do.

"I think you should invite Bella and Alice and forget to mention we'll be there. Edward seems to think Bella is avoiding him, and I don't know that she'll go if he's there."

"You are one evil bitch, Rose, and that's why I love you. It's a plan. Call me with the details later."

He hugged me and disappeared into the bus again. As I walked back, I already had my phone out and dialing. The good thing about handling booking for artists all over the world was that I was never at a loss for a place to go. I could get a reservation almost anywhere at the drop of a hat.

Before I made it back to our bus, I'd booked a private room at one of the local BBQ restaurants. I shuddered at the thought of Emmett around that much meat, not to mention all the other guys. If nothing else, it would keep them quiet and leave Alice, Bella and I to carry most of the conversation.

"I saw you talking to him, what did he say?" I was barely halfway up the stairs when Edward confronted me. I decided to take pity on him.

"Edward, sit." He opened his mouth to protest but sat after I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ok, first. Bella and Alice are friends with all the guys in that band. We sent them out with _The Newborns_ three or fours times over the last couple years."

"But…"

"Secondly," I said, cutting him off, "Riley is one hundred percent gay. He isn't competition, Edward, so calm down."

His mouth was slightly open in shock, so I answered the question that was undoubtedly about to surface.

"Yes, I know about his rep. The label likes him to keep up the charade. It's better for sales. He doesn't really like it and neither do we, but he agreed to it. Anyway, we decided that it was a good idea for all of us to go out to dinner tonight. You know, catch up and stuff."

I took in the reluctant faces around me and instantly shifted to bitch mode. "And before anyone says anything, you're all going. No complaints. If I have to drag you to the restaurant kicking and screaming, I'll do it, so help me God."

I smiled as their shoulders slumped in defeat. I loved being me.

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

"Who was it?" I asked as Riley's head appeared through the curtain at the front of the bus.

"Just another old friend." He flopped down on the couch beside me with a Cheshire grin. "And speaking of old friends, we're taking you two out to dinner tonight. I will not take no for an answer. We have a lot of catching up to do and we have to be on stage in forty-five minutes. Your boys are after us, so it should work out just fine. You're free right?"

"Of course! We'd love to." Alice shot me a look of surprise. I knew what she was thinking. Usually she had to drag me out to anything social, but this was a perfect excuse to keep up my Edward avoidance a little longer.

"Alright then, where are you guys staying?" 

"The Hilton by the airport."

"Perfect, we're at the Sheridan across the street. Our bus is leaving about an hour after our set so if you need a ride you can come with us. We'll go back and get cleaned up and head out for seven. Sound good?"

"As always, Riley, your anal retentive planning skills are second only to Bella's." Alice burst out in a fit of giggles as we both gave her the evil eye.

The rest of my afternoon consisted of a one sided game of hide and seek with Edward. The object of the game was for me to hide out of his sight until the band hit the stage and I had to show my face to work. I was safe then because he would be unable to talk to me.

So far I was winning.

Even with my paranoid behavior, we enjoyed _The Newborn's_ set and got some amazing shots of our guys. I convinced Alice to call Jasper and let him know that we would be catching a ride back to the hotel with Riley. When the bus finally started moving, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Instantly a wave of guilt crept over me.

If I kept this up, Edward was going to think that I was mad at him or worse. The idea of hurting him made my stomach churn. Then I realized that if I didn't pull myself together, I could really screw things up both personally and professionally.

_You made your bed, now you have to lie in it… put on your big girl pants and deal with this. You can't be a coward forever._

I grimaced at my inner monologue, but I knew it was right. First thing in the morning, I would go apologize to Edward and sort this out like an adult.

"Earth to Bella." Alice was waving her hand in front of my face. "There you are. We're here. Are you going to come up to the room to take a shower or do you like the dusty look?"

Sticking my tongue out at her, I ducked under her arm and ran into the hotel. I managed to catch an elevator just as it was closing. She came into the lobby and saw me as the doors started to close. The last thing I saw was her swearing at me. _Looks like I get to shower first tonight._

Since we had unlimited hot water, it didn't really matter who went first, it was just one of those stupid ongoing games for honor and bragging rights. Don't judge us, life on the road can get boring!

Just over an hour later, Alice and I were knocking on Riley's door. He opened it and held up a finger as he finished a phone call.

"Yeah, that's fine. They just got here. Alright, I'll text you later." He hung up the phone and gave us an appraising once over. "You look positively wonderful my darlings. Shall we go?"

"Where are the other guys?" Alice said as she looked around his room.

"They left a couple of minutes ago since we wouldn't all fit in one cab."

Riley took us to a huge all you can eat BBQ restaurant. I smiled at the thought of teasing Emmett about missing out. He would have taken the opportunity to try and personally bankrupt the place. On second thought, maybe it was a good thing I didn't have to watch that.

As we pulled up, Riley paid the driver and pulled out his phone. He sent a quick message and led us inside. We were standing the podium waiting to be seated when a familiar looking blond approached us. I was certain that I knew her, but I couldn't place her. She walked right up to Riley and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You guys know each other even if you've never met. Bella, Alice, this is Rosalie Hale."

My mouth fell open as I realized who I was staring at. Of course I had seen Rosalie in pictures before, but none of them had quite done her justice. She was even more statuesque and beautiful than I imagined. At that moment, something else clicked in my brain.

_Why is Rosalie here?_

I looked up at Riley with alarm as my brain slowly put the pieces together. He let out a loud laugh and put an arm around my shoulder.

"Let's go eat, Bells!"

"I'm going to hurt you, Riley, in excruciatingly slow ways," I said as I felt my face turning red.

"I'm flattered, honey, but you know you're just not my type. Besides, I'm not into that S&M stuff."

Rosalie brought us down a corridor where the private party rooms were. The sound of males bonding over large quantities of meat could be heard from a distance. When we entered our room, I saw the rest of _The Newborns_ as well as our guys seated around a massive table. Some of the techs from both camps had come along too, no doubt lured by promises of all you can eat BBQ. From the sound of the laughter we had followed down the hallway, everyone was already getting along wonderfully.

I took a deep cleansing breath and reminded myself that I was being stupid. These were my friends. Edward was a friend. I had already decided I needed to suck it up, and I was going to have fun tonight.

The meal started off quite well. As soon as the huge platters of meat arrived, conversation dropped to a minimum and the guys were occupied with their plates. I only found myself staring at Edward four times and I don't think he noticed. Rose, Alice and I were talking about work, having finished our burgers and salad long ago. That was when Edward decided to get chatty.

He turned to Riley who was sitting on my right. "So, Rose tells us that you guys worked with these two a lot. Have any juicy stories to share?"

I think I swallowed my tongue when I saw Riley's eyes light up.

"I have many stories. Where do I start?" he said with an evil grin in my direction.

I jumped up to cover Riley's mouth with my hand, but he saw me coming and darted to the other side of the table. Everyone laughed as Emmett blocked my progress.

"Well, if I didn't want to hear them before, you have my full attention now," Emmett said as he planted me back in my chair. "I think you and I should trade seats though. I'll make sure she doesn't interfere."

Riley looked quite please with his new position between Edward and Jasper. "Have you guys been introduced to Bitch-Bella and Angry-Alice yet?"

"We've met them in passing. Thankfully we haven't been in the crosshairs yet." Jasper looked a little reluctant to weigh in on that particular topic.

"Yeah, we never fucked with them either. Scary." Riley shuddered.

"We're sitting right here you know," Alice growled.

Riley let out an evil laugh. "Oh! I know. I'll tell you about Colin."

Alice tried to look angry but just ended up laughing. "At least he deserved it."

"Colin was our tour manager about a year ago. He was a bit of a self absorbed prick. He never really appreciated what these lovely ladies did or how hard they worked."

"Nice try, Riley, but it's still too late for flattery," I warned him.

He laughed at my warning and continued. "Well, after a solid week of nothing but patronizing behavior, Bella and Alice went home the morning we were scheduled for a cross country flight. We were all shuffling through security with our carry-ons when Colin got stopped.

"The security guy said he had to unpack the bag because there was something suspicious in it. Colin bitched and complained, calling the guards useless but finally agreed when he realized he had no choice. The guy unpacked the bag and let a out a low whistle as he pulled out a massive twelve inch black dong complete with realistic veins and everything.

"Perhaps if Colin hadn't mouthed off when they asked to search his bag, it wouldn't have got worse than that, but the guard was looking for revenge at this point. He slapped it down on top of the x-ray machine and proceeded to lecture Colin about how sex toys should be packed in his checked luggage if he would like to avoid situations like this in the future. As he talked, his voice got louder and eventually was demonstrating how the vibrating mechanism raises red flags for them to the entire crowd.

"We all knew how it got there. The day before, Alice tried to bring something to Colin's attention. He didn't appreciate her being an 'uptight watchdog' and told her to go back to her hotel and get herself off to release the tension. Anyway, he wasn't impressed by the gift she left him. The fact that Esme told him there was nothing she could do since he had no proof that Alice did anything wrong was the last straw and he decided not to tour with us again.

"Shame really." Riley snorted.

"Wow, remind me not to piss you off, Alice," Jasper said when he'd finally stopped laughing.

"Don't let Bella fool you though. She comes off as the shy innocent one, but she can hold her own too." Riley laughed again as he saw Emmett put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from getting up. I closed my eyes and wondered which story he was going to bring up.

_Please not New Jersey, please not New Jersey,_ I chanted to myself.

"When they were with us in New Jersey, Bella went complete band slut on us."

_Fuck! _I saw Edward choke on his drink and, I lowered my head to the table.

"It was for a good cause though. We had a ton of press lined up that day, and apparently, she overheard reporters plan to 'out' me. Personally, I wouldn't have cared all that much, but Bella being the professional that she is, concocted a plan to keep that from happening."

Knowing how much worse this was going to get, I started banging my head on the table. Maybe I'd get head trauma, and they'd have to call an ambulance.

Emmett slipped a folded napkin under my forehead. When I glared at him, he shrugged.

"The noise is distracting and I want to hear this." He turned back to Riley and waited for him to continue.

"Alice was with me all day organizing press, so I know that what Bella did was all her. I sat down with the reporter and he started in on the standard questions. Before he got to anything remotely controversial, Bella came running into the room claiming that she couldn't wait in the bus for another minute. She needed to have her hands on me this instant.

She was dressed in the shortest little schoolgirl skirt and had a tiny white shirt that looked like it was two sizes too small. Her tits were all pushed up and practically falling out. She even did her hair and makeup. I shit you not, she wore pigtails, and she practically looked illegal." Riley turned to me and beamed.

"I swear. I've never been closer to going straight than I was at that moment. Well, not really, but you get the idea. Anyway, she ran over to me and perched herself on my lap and spent the rest of the interview alternating between grinding herself into my lap, running her hands through my hair, sucking on my earlobe and batting her eyelashes at the reporter. Let me tell you, Bella can put on a damn good show when she wants to.

"The reporter was completely dazzled by her and must have bought how she hung all over me because he barely got another coherent question out for the rest of the interview. Toward the end when she full on kissed me, the reporter actually blushed, and you know those fuckers have no shame."

I looked up to see Edward staring at me with his mouth hanging open. But I was waiting for the other foot. Once Riley told them what the reporter called me, I knew I was going to have a new nickname.

"I actually think that she gave my reputation a whole new level that day. If you find the interview, you'll see that he refers to her as 'the sex kitten that pawed the lead singer through the hour long interview.'"

Riley winked at me and I instantly knew he was about to do something that I would definitely not approve of. "Maybe if you guys ask really nicely, Bella will wear that little number again sometime."

As the laughter finally started to die, I looked directly at Riley across the table. "Sleep with one eye open, Riley."

"What?" he said with expertly feigned innocence. "I only told the truth, Bella dear. Besides, your tits did look fabulous that day. I think you should let these gentlemen decide for themselves."

I think I caught Edward nodding at that thought. Thankfully the conversation shifted to another topic and the spotlight was no longer on my tits.

We ordered dessert and then coffee as many more stories were traded. When the meal finally wound down, Alice and I said our goodbye's to Riley and his band. Even with emails and instant messages, touring schedules were busy and it was hard to keep in touch. We probably wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time. That was probably a good thing for Riley's life expectancy.

Just before he left, Riley leaned down and whispered in my ear. "You better get your claws in to that Edward before I see him next or all bets are off. Not that I think I'd have a chance with the way he was staring at you all night."

I whacked him on the ass as he laughed at my immediate blush.

At least dinner seemed to clear up the tension between Edward and I. When I first arrived, I caught him looking at me with concern more than once, but by the end of the evening we were laughing and chatting with ease. I would still need to talk to him tomorrow and discuss the whole situation, but tonight was a good start.

Rose, Alice and I piled in to one cab while the guys took another. I checked my watch and saw that it was already after ten.

"I'm not ready for bed yet. I think I'll go for a swim when we get back."

Alice turned around in the front seat to face us. "That sounds like a great idea. I know we're leaving early in the morning. It's a short trip, so as long as we're in bed by midnight, we can nap on the bus in the morning, and we should be fine."

I turned to Rosalie. "We'd love to have you along, Rosalie, but something tells me you have other plans."

"I may join you in a little while. I think Emmett ate an entire cow tonight, so I doubt he's going to be awake for very long."

-==\\/==-

_Jasper POV_

I stubbed my toe twice trying to find the phone in the dark hotel room. Apparently, I had left it in my jeans pocket in my haste to pass out. The sun and the huge meal had done a number on me. I was lucky to stay awake long enough to make it to my bed.

"Edward? What the fuck, man? I told you I was going to sleep."

"Come to my room, now."

"We've already discussed this. I don't think of you that way." 

"Fine, Jasper, if you don't want to see this, then go back to sleep."

"See what?" I swore as he hung up on me.

My bleary eyes found the clock beside my bed, and I saw that it was just past eleven thirty. I threw some clothes on and shoved the key card in my pocket before stumbling to the door. If I got to his room and he was joking, I could at least still kill him. Even though I was still half asleep and blind from the light in the hallway, I managed to find Edward's room and knocked.

The door opened slowly but I couldn't see anything inside.

"Are you pretending to be a vampire and shunning the light?"

"No, smart ass, come here, and be quiet."

Edward led me to his balcony.

"Gee this is nice, Edward. I have a balcony too…and a black sky and stars…"

"But do you have a view of the pool?"

I stepped to the railing and looked down. That was when I saw Alice and suddenly I was very awake. She was in a small white bikini with a colorful print. The bottom was very low cut and the entire thing showed her body off in amazing ways.

She swam over to the side of the pool where Bella was sitting with her legs in the water. Bella was in a slightly more modest dark blue bikini. I didn't have to look over at Edward to know that he was drooling and probably imagining using his teeth on each of the ties that were holding Bella's suit on.

"How long have they been here?"

"About forty-five minutes."

"And you just decided to call me?"

"No, I've been calling you since they got here. You just decided to pick up."

We both stood and watched in silence as the girls laughed and talked. We were on the fourth floor so although we could see them clearly, we weren't quite close enough to make out what they were saying. It was obvious from the laughter that kept drifting to us that they were having a good time. Rosalie must have been sitting out of sight because she suddenly jumped in the pool and started splashing Bella and daring her to get in.

I jumped when I heard the patio door on the next balcony open.

"Emmett," Edward said sounding as though he was in a trance.

He came over to us and looked down at the pool.

"Enjoying the view, boys?"

"Yeah, you could say that," I whimpered.

He leaned over the railing and watched for a few more minutes.

"LOOKIN' HOT, ROSE BABY!" Emmett bellowed suddenly, and my heart nearly jumped out of my body.

Edward and I froze as three heads turned and looked directly up at us. They waved and laughed at us before we had the time or good sense to move.

"Dammit, Emmett, did the whole skulking in the dark thing not clue you in? We were trying to go unnoticed here."

"Oh were you? Sorry, I guess I ruined that huh?" He chuckled and disappeared back into his room.

By the time I looked back down at the pool, the girls had left. I sighed. "Well that was fun while it lasted. In case I don't remember because of my extreme fatigue, remind me to invite Alice swimming at the next possible opportunity." I turned and headed for the door.

"Hey, Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'd actually have to convince Bella that I was gay to get her to wear that little schoolgirl number Riley was talking about?"

I passed a hand over my eyes and continued for the door. "Goodnight, Edward."

-==\\/==-


	10. Chapter Ten: Ghosts

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all the kind reviews!

I had a bit of a rough week, and your kind (and humorous) words were the source of more than a few smiles for me.

As always, I bow down to my betas LuluM and LouderThanSirens for their wealth of grammatical knowledge and eagle like eyes.

Of course thank you to all of you who a reading and favoriting as well!

-==\\/==-

Chapter Ten

Ghosts

_Bella POV_

Alice continued to flick through the iPod at lightning speed. "You know listening to music is more fun when you actually listen to it right?"

"Bite me. I'm looking for a song," she threw back at me.

"Yeah, that's what you said five minutes ago." I laughed and puttered around the bus putting things away. It had been a really good morning. Most of it was spent on the phone with Esme as we drove to the next venue. She had just got the proofs of the posters back for the final show of the tour in New York. The show was scheduled for a month from today but the artwork needed to be finalized.

She was quite impressed with what we had come up with. In fact, she was practically oozing satisfaction over all of our work up to this point. We were kicking ass, and as a result, we were almost literally bouncing off the walls with energy left to burn. The show was in a few hours so we couldn't go a safe distance to burn it off in a dignified fashion that didn't have the possibility of turning into a future tour anecdote, but at this point we were feeling too good to care. It was time to let off some steam or spontaneously combust.

A distinct drum beat started pounding out from the stereo in the front of the bus.

Alice squealed and I ran up front to catch our cue.

_I don't wanna be a loser, no. I don't wanna be an almost was._

Yes, our chosen energy burning activity was a good old fashioned rock-out. Alice's song of choice was _Rock Star_ by Everclear. It was definitely in the gold star category of good rock out songs.

_That's why I wanna be a rock star. I wanna be a king. I wanna be on top._

I looked out the heavily tinted bus window and saw Edward walking across the parking lot, shooting a curious look in our direction. He smirked and headed toward it. He was drawn, I assumed, by the music and the fact that the bus was moving as we threw ourselves around singing. To his credit, he did try knocking, but we were too busy to answer. Eventually, his curiosity got the best of him as he opened the door and came halfway up the stairs, looking highly amused.

Alice and I stopped at the same time, looked at him, looked at each other, shrugged and went right on dancing and singing.

_That's why I want to be a rock star, be like all those guys on the MTV_

He burst out laughing and leaned against the divider, preparing to take in the entire performance. It didn't bother us; we were having too much fun to care.

Carlisle's approach went completely unnoticed by the three of us, but suddenly, he showed up behind Edward and took in the scene. He shook his head at us and I think I saw the words "god give me strength" cross his lips as he latched on to the scruff of Edward's shirt and dragged him back to the venue.

We could very distinctly hear Edward protesting, "_Hey!_ I was watching that!" as the song ended.

Alice and I fell onto the couches laughing.

Mission accomplished.

Later that day, we walked into the venue and headed towards production. Sound check was in full swing, but we didn't need to do anything with the band until show time. Alice and I were using the rest of the day to catch up on some tasks we'd been putting off.

At that moment, we were completely absorbed in the new photos Alice printed. We were rating and assigning them to publicity or web use when the band stopped playing. I looked up as a crooked smile grew on Edward's lips. He promptly broke into an all too familiar guitar riff. Emmett looked at him for a bar or two, then laughed and nodded while joining in on drums. I'm sure that Jasper would have added vocals if he hadn't just fallen down laughing.

The song they were playing was Rock Star by Everclear.

I blushed, as Alice bowed regally from the waist. We looked at each other, threw up the horns and started head banging. As theme songs went, it could have been a whole lot worse.

They laughed and broke from playing. Edward turned to his band mates for a moment before hopping down off the stage and jogging to us. "Alice, do you mind if I borrow the Sex Kitten for a minute?"

I glared at him while muttering curses at Riley. Alice raised an eyebrow, but extended her hand in a 'she's all yours' gesture.

"Do you mind, Bella?"

"Not at all," I said trying to sound cheerful when my stomach had actually just taken up new residence at my feet. I didn't know what he was going to say exactly, but I'd be willing to bet my laptop that this was going to be about my drunken antics the other night. I fully intended to talk to him as soon as we arrived this morning, but he was on the phone doing radio interviews from the moment we got here.

Edward directed me outside and around the back where he jumped up to sit on a loading dock. I leaned against it beside him, watching the open field behind the building with avid interest. Hopefully, the angle would be enough that the blush that was already creeping across my face would be hidden from him. I could feel his eyes on me and wondered if this could possibly be worse than I was already anticipating.

"So," I hedged, trying to keep my voice light. "What's up?"

"You've been avoiding me." He sounded sad and I had to fight myself not to turn and look at him.

"I have not! Well not today anyway. I seem to remember a very lively performance of 'Rock Star' that you enjoyed just this morning. Trust me, when I'm avoiding people, I usually don't sing and dance for them. I'm way better at it than that."

"Bella, I've been trying to talk to you for the last two and a half days. Every time you're alone and I approach you, you either skitter off before I get there or start babbling about a meeting or phone call and disappear."

"That obvious, huh?"

"I believe I've heard Alice refer to the fact that you're not a very good liar? I'm sorry, but I have to agree." He chuckled. "What happened the other night, I don't want…"

"Look, Edward, I really am sorry about that. It's…it's not something that I usually do, that either of us usually does. In fact I've never even been that drunk before while on a job. I would hate for you to think that Alice and I make a habit of throwing ourselves at people we work with or something. We don't sleep with different people in every town or anything." I desperately tried to stop the word vomit before I said something really stupid. I realized I already had when I remembered the nights I'd noticed Edward with different women. He wasn't sleeping with floozies after every show, but in more than a few cities, there had been women he took back to the hotel.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that!" I blurted out. "I just… we just hold ourselves to different standards…" _Oh fantastic, Bella, why don't you just call him a whore!_ "Gah, that's not what I meant either, shit…"

"Bella," He laughed. "Relax! You're going to strain something."

He took a deep breath. "I know you probably think I'm rather indiscriminate with women, but that's really not the case."

"Edward, honestly you don't owe me any explanations."

"Maybe not, but I don't want you to think of me as some kind of man whore."

I blushed and didn't say anything.

"What's that?" He laughed and his voice raised into a falsetto. "No, Edward, I would never think that of you! You're the paragon of virtue in my eyes." He laughed. "The women you've seen me with, they all meant something to me. They were old friends or exes. They weren't random fans I picked up for one night stands. They were all women that I'm still friendly with and respect greatly, and we always knew what we were both getting out of it. Besides, I haven't been meeting any of them for a while now. Someone has caught my interest, and I don't play games with people when it comes to those kinds of things."

I caught his sidelong glance and decided it would be safer if I chose not to understand that statement for the moment. Instead, I attempted to clear up my high standards remark. "I really didn't mean anything by the high standard comment, Edward. It's just that, in our positions, Alice and I have to be careful. We have to hold ourselves to a high standard because there are so many other people who do. That's all."

He jumped down from the concrete platform and stepped in front of me. He was almost close enough to touch me, and I fought the overwhelming desire to step closer to him. "Bella, nothing happened that night that I regret and I hope you feel the same. If you hadn't been drunk…well, let's just say I sure as hell wouldn't have been as hesitant as I was." He grinned his crooked smile at me then turned and walked back into the venue, leaving me at a complete loss.

I stayed where I was, watching the wind play with the long grass in the field. My head was a jumble of thoughts and worries, and I was making no headway in sorting any of them out. My mind drifted back to Rosalie's departure this morning. When she left for the airport, she had pulled Alice and I aside and imparted some carefully chosen and cryptic, advice.

"_I like you two."  
_

"_Um, thanks?" I said with confusion._

_"No, I mean it. I pride myself on being an excellent judge of people, and I would have no problem calling you two friends. That's not something I'm comfortable doing with just anyone. Usually, I like to take a bit longer to get to know people, but since I have to head back and your…situation is going to progress, I don't have that luxury. You have to know who you can trust in this business, and I get a good feeling from you two."_

"_Thanks, Rosalie. We think you're spiffy, too." Alice said, obviously sharing my confusion._

_"Because I like you, I'm going to give you some advice. You can interpret it how you like and do what you want with it from there._

"_Good people, the kind that you can count on and take at their word aren't easy to come by in this business. Hell, they're rare at the best of times anywhere, but this industry seems to draw a disproportionate amount of genuine assholes. When you find someone who is willing put it on the line for you, they're worth risking anything for. Careers come and go, but someone like that you'll never find again."_

_She turned to Alice. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You just need a kick in ass, and this is it."_

_Then, she turned and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You think too much. You let your head rule your heart and you probably have a good reason for it, but sometimes you just have to jump, no matter how scary it is._

"_Now, I fully expect you to abide by the code of the sisterhood or the ovaries or whatever the fuck we call it and not mention this conversation to anyone. If you do, I'll just deny it."_

_With that, she gave us both hugs before disappearing with Emmett for a more private goodbye._

The sound of footsteps carried to me over the wind, and I saw Alice round the corner with two plates of food.

"You're too good to me." I smiled.

"I take care of my bitch." She grinned back, handing me my food and a drink. "So, was it bad? I didn't think you were back here celebrating alone."

"No, it wasn't bad, not at all. I think it was just unexpected." I played with some fries on my plate. Alice didn't say anything; she just ate her food and waited for me to explain in my own time.

"He said that he didn't regret it and he hopes that I don't either. And I don't. He also said he was interested, but I just…wasn't looking for this. I honestly didn't think I'd ever get involved with a guy again. I don't know if I even want to." I sighed and mashed more fries together.

"I mean there's a part of me that absolutely knows that I do not want to deal with the crap a relationship will bring me. Then there's a part of me that's excited and singing and alive. The thing is, I thought that part was dead and gone."

"Surprise!" Alice said cheerfully, but not without sympathy.

"Yeah, exactly. Then of course, there's the fact that this isn't just any guy. There's the work stuff to consider too."

"Okay, the rest I'll give you, but not that one. He's a guy just like any other, regardless of his job. As far as our job goes, all our rules are there to keep us from doing something stupid in the spur of the moment, not to stop you from getting seriously involved with someone you've developed feelings for. That's what Rosalie was trying to tell us."

"You think?"

"I do. I guess there are some not so subtle vibes going around and she picked up on them. That speech this morning was her way of telling us she approves."

I nodded weakly.

"I mean it, Bella. If you decide not to see where this is headed, then it's going to be for reasons other than your job. If you're not ready because of…well because you're still working through issues or scars, then that's totally different."

"I've had almost four years to work through the issues; I think they're just there."

"And they always will be if you take that approach. Look, it's not something you have to figure out right now, but I can't help you decide on this one. I think he's a great guy and that you two have a spark. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all those other cheesy clichés." She smiled and picked up her trash. "Don't be out here too long. I need you in the bus to do some gear inventory for tonight."

I watched her disappear around the corner before picking up my own trash and following suit. Cutting the past loose would be the best way to make my peace with it. I wasn't sure I could do that, but there was definitely a part of me that wanted to and it seemed to be growing.

-==\\/==-

_Edward POV_

The rest of the afternoon was lost to distraction. I had spent a lot of time figuring out what I was going to say to her and now I was second guessing everything. I saw Bella around the venue through the afternoon, and she seemed herself again. She laughed at Alice and waved when she saw me, so I thought everything was going according to plan.

I actually felt pretty smug about the whole thing until ten minutes ago. She slipped in the front doors of the venue looking like she'd seen a ghost. Alice wasn't with her, so now I was wondering if her earlier ease had just been a show. I watched as Bella found Jacob and traded a few quick words with him. He handed her something then she headed out the back door where the buses were parked.

I casually wandered over to Jake. "Hey man, what's up with Bella?"

"I don't know she looked sick or something."

"Yeah…what did she want?"

"She bummed a smoke off me. I didn't even know she smoked."

"Weird," I said, already leaving him to follow Bella. I found her in the shadows between the busses leaning against a wall. In her dark clothing, the red glow from the end of her cigarette was the only thing that gave her away. She took a long drag and held it before exhaling a thin stream of smoke slowly.

"Bella, what are you doing out here? Where's Alice?"

She jumped at the sound of my voice and turned toward me. It was odd to see her alone. Since they started with us, I rarely saw them apart for more than five minutes while they were working. It seemed that everything they did was in tandem. She shuffled her feet and tried to hide the lit cigarette. Realizing she failed completely, she sighed and took another drag, I saw her hand shake slightly as though she was trying to stop it.

"Alice ran back to the hotel. I… just needed some air."

"You won't get much if you keep that up," I said gesturing to the cigarette. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I used to; I quit a few years ago. I just needed a mental health break for a minute." She smiled and looked very calm, but her eyes gave her away. She looked a little like a cornered animal. I watched as she raised her hand for another drag but lower it quickly when she noticed the shaking. Her eyes fell to her feet as she kicked at the dirt. I'd never felt so protective of someone before, but I fought the instinct to wrap my arms around her and comfort her. I still didn't know if I wasn't part of the problem.

"Well, I just needed to head back to the bus, I forgot my phone. You sure you're okay?"

"Absolutely fine, thanks. Hey, Edward?" she hesitated. "If you see Alice, um… don't mention you saw me here. Please?"

I nodded and headed toward the door of the bus.

A few minutes later, I was back inside trying to distract myself when Alice found me.

"Edward, have you seen Bella anywhere?" Her normally light and airy tone was unmistakably laced with panic.

"No, I haven't, sorry," I replied, still mystified that Bella seemed to be avoiding Alice. This can't be about me. I could understand Bella being upset about what I'd said, but Alice's reaction made no sense. Perhaps they were fighting?

I watched the scowl grow on Alice's face and debated if I had any right to get involved between the two friends. As I was considering, the look on Bella's face came back into my mind again and I was certain that this wasn't just a simple spat. Alice had turned away and was obviously planning on checking the dressing rooms for her friend.

"Alice?" I called to her. "I most certainly did not see Bella hiding out between the buses smoking, and she definitely didn't ask me not to tell you that she was there."

Alice sighed deeply as the panic faded from her face leaving a mix of worry and anger.

"Thank you," she murmured and frowned as she rushed past me. I watched her go and forced myself not to follow.

In the five months since they'd joined us on the road, they'd always been very private. Not closed off, they just didn't share a lot about their personal lives unless asked directly. Even then, they kept answers short and to the point.

One of the things we all agreed on was how nice it was that Alice and Bella didn't need hand holding. Once we'd made it clear to them that we wanted them to take the lead on their projects, we didn't have to worry about any of it until something was ready to be approved before going to be finalized. We didn't need to constantly stroke their egos and make sure everything was okay. They were comfortable coming to us if they needed something, and we knew things were okay unless we heard differently.

I tried to reassure myself that this time was no different. If they needed help with something they would come to us. A small smile came to my lips, despite my worry, when I thought back to the first show on the tour.

Jacob had condescendingly told Bella and Alice to run along and do their nails when they offered to lend a hand with teardown. Alice had glared at him and I was honestly worried that she was going to hit him. Instead, she sauntered off with Bella in tow, looking just as surly.

The next day, Jacob had woken up with a wonderful blood red manicure on his left hand. I knew for a fact he slept with half of his body hanging out of the bunk and the girls took advantage of that fact to show Jake exactly where he could shove his nail polish. Jake hadn't noticed till he joined us for breakfast.

He was mortified and Alice held her ground refusing to give him the nail polish remover until he admitted he was an ass and apologized to them. If Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett or I had any second thoughts about bringing them on board, they were gone that morning. They dealt with Jacob and done it with a touch of class. Of course he didn't feel quite as positive about the incident, but he'd gotten over it. The next night, he'd let them help after all.

I sighed. The fact that I knew little of Bella's personal history had never bothered me before. I figured she was a private person and eventually we'd get to it. Jasper walked up behind me quietly, watching the small black haired woman disappear through the doors.

"What's that look about? Something wrong?"

"I don't know. something's up with the girls."

"What do you mean? Work stuff?" he asked as his brow furrowed.

"No, not work. I don't think anyway. I don't know… something is just wrong." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Serious?"

"No idea. Come on; doors are about to open we should get out of here."

He nodded and seemed as reluctant as I was to turn from the door Alice had just disappeared through.

-==\\/==-


	11. Chapter Eleven: Rum and Coke

Hello again everyone!

First of all, my sincere apologies, it was never my intention to leave you with a cliff hanger for that long. My only defense (I hope) is that Bella's history is revealed in this chapter so I will not be stringing you along.

I could make excuses and all that but suffice it to say that I got busy and time got away from me. It's fairly obvious by now that I'm not managing to post on a schedule, but I do try to get the chapters up as fast as I'm able.

Feel free to make voodoo dolls of me and take out your frustrations on them.

As always, my gratitude goes out to my most wonderful betas, LuluM and LouderThanSirens. Thanks to them, Alice isn't imaging things when she should be imagining, which is good because that would just be strange.

To my readers, who seem to be enjoying the story, thank you! You make writing even more rewarding. I started this story so that the plot bunnies would stop eating my brain, it's an added bonus that people seen to genuinely like it as well! And may I just say that constructive criticism is the creamy center of a review, a special thank you to those of you that provide that sweet goodness.

Just a reminder in case you've suffered severe head trauma recently, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. This plot is straight from my head.

And now, what you've waited far too long for…

-==\\/==-

_Recap – Chapter 10: Ghosts_

_Edward POV_

_I sighed. The fact that I knew little of Bella's personal history had never bothered me before. I figured she was a private person and eventually we'd get to it. Jasper walked up behind me quietly, watching the small black haired woman disappear through the doors._

"_What's that look about? Something wrong?"_

"_I don't know. something's up with the girls."_

"_What do you mean? Work stuff?" he asked as his brow furrowed.  
_

"_No, not work. I don't think anyway. I don't know… something is just wrong." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair._

"_Serious?"_

"_No idea. Come on; doors are about to open we should get out of here." _

_He nodded and seemed as reluctant as I was to turn from the door Alice had just disappeared through._

-==\\/==-

Chapter Eleven

Rum and Coke

_Alice POV_

After Bella assured me for the sixty-fourth time that she didn't want to talk about what James had to say, and that she "really, honestly, just wanted some time to herself," I headed to the hotel bar.

I gave the bartender my order and tossed him a ten.

I was generally an easy going person. Bella might say it's because anyone who knew me knew enough to stay out of my way, but honestly, I just didn't let much drag me down. If I had a problem, I went around it. If someone was a pain in the ass to work with, I didn't work with them again. It was a simple approach to life.

Too bad it didn't work with everything. When I returned to the venue with the extra batteries we'd forgotten and saw James lounging outside, I knew things were about to get complicated. I had hoped that he hadn't found Bella yet, but when I couldn't find her in the venue, my gut started twisting. Edward told me she was out back hiding and _smoking_, it was obvious that things were already way past complicated. Bella hadn't smoked since the last time her stress levels were out of control.

A hand reached out and picked up my drink, startling me out of my reverie. Jasper took a swig from my glass and put it back in front of me.

"Rum and coke? That's not your usual party drink."

"Tonight's not my usual party," I mumbled into my ice cubes.

"Yeah, I noticed. You both disappeared right after the show, and I swear Edward is going to wear out his shoes with all the pacing he's been doing tonight. What the hell is going on? He said something weird happened today."

I sighed. "It's a long story, Jasper. And it's all personal, I swear. Don't worry, we'd never let it distract us."

"Alice," he said angrily. "You think _that's_ what I'm worried about? A missed deadline? How long have you known me now?"

"No, sorry, of course it's not. Really, we're just pretty ingrained in the habit of not mixing business with personal stuff."

He winced, and I realized that was probably a little too much honesty for the moment. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "You look like you need to talk. I know Bella is a very good friend, but she's not your only one. I don't think I've ever seen you look this depressed before. It's heartbreaking."

I sighed again and looked for answers in my drink. I really did need someone to talk to, someone who wasn't going to shut down at the mere mention of James' name. Jasper took a stool beside me. "I can share some juicy stuff about Edward in trade. You wouldn't believe some of the things he's done."

I couldn't help it. I chuckled. "Fine, I'll give you the story, but she's going to kill me when she finds out I told you. I'm about to break one of our biggest rules here. Bella is absolutely mortified at the thought of anyone knowing about him. She thinks people will look down on her if they know, and she's still embarrassed that she got caught up with him at all. The whole situation makes her feel weak.

"I don't know if she doesn't want to lay her problems on someone else's shoulders, or if she still sees James as her own personal failure. Then there's the fact that you need to know anyway because, if James is back, it could be a serious security issue. Even Bella would agree to that part." Apparently, I really did need to talk to someone because I went from clammed up to verbal vomit in about two seconds flat.

"Okay. Slow down. Start at the beginning. Who the hell is James?"

"Bella's ex-husband."

He raised an eyebrow and took my elbow to lead me toward the back of the bar. "When it comes up, you can tell her I plied you with liquor." He smiled and motioned to the bartender for two more drinks.

"Spill it," he said as he passed me a fresh drink and settled in on his side of the booth.

I took a deep breath and tried to push aside the feeling that I was betraying my friend's confidence. They did need to know, and Bella wouldn't want to tell them. "Bella and I have been friends as long as I can remember. We're practically sisters. Both of our parents were friends. Our mothers were pregnant with us at the same time. We went to the same day care, the same pre-school, everything. When I was fifteen, my parents and younger sister died in a car accident."

"Oh, Alice, I'm so sorry."

I smiled sadly at him. "Thanks, but it was a long time ago. Charlie and Renee, Bella's parents, took me in and raised me. It helped a lot that I still had a whole family that loved me after the accident. They got me through it, and I'm still grateful to them.

"After high school, Bella and I went to VCU. She majored in computer arts. Websites, video, digital editing, all that geek stuff she loves so much. I went into a more traditional line. I'm a tactile person. I love the feel of paper under my fingers or a fabric in my hand. Digital photos are handy, but they'll never match the magic you can make in a darkroom. I can design a whole room in my head from one touch of a decadent fabric and a decent color pallet. Then I'll photograph that room for a magazine spread.

"I ended up going to Paris in my final year for an internship with a fashion designer there. I learned so much. It was an amazingly overwhelming experience." I realized I was starting to wax nostalgic and got back on track.

"Bella stayed in the states while I did my internship in Paris. She got a job at a top design firm in Richmond working on their online and television projects. That's where she met James." Even his name was foul in my mouth.

I took another drink and continued. "We wrote each other constantly at first. Not a day went by that I didn't get an email. Usually it was two or three, and I sent just as many. But within a month the emails slowed down and they got less… forthcoming. With the time difference and my hectic schedule, I didn't have a lot of time for calls, but even if I did, she was never home or didn't answer."

"At first, I figured she was busy with work, but it just didn't seem right. Eventually, I emailed Renee, but she wasn't hearing from her either. Bella had told her that she was working on a big project and that was keeping her busy. I knew that was a load of crap. You might have noticed that Bella is a workaholic. The idea that she wouldn't have time to email me was absolutely ridiculous."

Jasper chuckled and nodded again. "For the first week, I thought she was surgically attached to her laptop."

"Exactly! Bella emails like other people breathe. But there was nothing I could do from Paris. In my last three months there, I got two emails. Both said little more than the fact that she was alive and busy working.

"I flew back to the states and met Charlie and Renee at the airport. When Bella didn't show up with them to meet me, I knew something was really wrong. I think that was the first time it hit Mom and Dad, too. They knew something was up, of course, but they didn't know what to do about it. Bella is very skilled at placating people, too.

"I went back home, slept for a day, jumped into my car, and went to Bella's apartment in the city. Charlie and Renee wanted to come with me, but I convinced them that it would be best for me to go alone first and try to figure out what she was up to.

"I knocked every half hour for the entire day and no one answered. I parked myself outside her door and waited, knowing that eventually she would have to come home. She can live out of that laptop bag as she will proudly tell you, but eventually she needs to restock and shower. I was going to wait as long as it took.

"Imagine my surprise as James sauntered up to the door and started unlocking it. It was a quick conversation. I asked who he was, he asked who I was. Then he denied knowing who Bella was and that was when things got interesting.

"I made a show of checking the number on the door, then turned to him. 'Bella Swan, the Bella Swan who this apartment is still registered to, and who is still paying all the bills according to her bank account. Where is she? If I don't see her now, I am calling the police, and believe me, by the time they get here, you'll wish they'd been faster.' I meant every word, too. I was ready to go through him to find her.

"He laughed in my face which really pissed me off. Then he opened the door and gestured grandly like a game show host. In the dark apartment, I could see her sitting on the couch. She was pale and gaunt. It looked like she hadn't seen daylight in months. As it turned out, she hadn't. She waved at me hesitantly. I looked at her again, and then I slugged James.

"I broke a knuckle, too," I remembered proudly. Jasper looked appropriately impressed.

"He was less than pleased at that of course and slammed the door in my face after calling me all kinds of colorful names.

"I called Charlie and explained the situation. He's the Chief of Police in our town. I don't think James knew that. Charlie called in a couple of favors to the Richmond police chief and within fifteen minutes, Renee, Charlie and a handful of police cars were at the apartment. It's a twenty-five minute drive to Richmond from our house, so I was impressed."

"He hit her?" Jasper seethed.

"No," I frowned. "As horrible as it sounds, I think that would have been easier for her to deal with. She wouldn't have been able to second guess cuts and bruises and James never would have been able to convince Bella that broken bones were her own fault. She never would have taken that. What he did was much more insidious. He isolated her and manipulated her. He took her support system away from her slowly until she didn't have anywhere to turn. He didn't even leave her with a phone in the apartment. The apartment door was dead bolted, and she had no key. That's why she wouldn't answer.

"I don't think I have the full story out of her even to this day, but she felt ashamed that she was in as deep as she was. He had twisted everything in her head so much that she didn't want to drag any of us into her mess. She knew it was wrong on some level, but he also convinced her that she was the cause, and that she could fix it and make everything better.

"That's part of the reason I'm so hard on her when she starts to withdraw. She goes back to that place in her head, and it scares me. James is very good at what he does, but he specialized in making Bella feel like crap. She'll deny it, but no matter what I tell her, I know that on some level she's still convinced to this day that she's selfish and 'high maintenance'."

He looked back at me in disbelief.

I laughed bitterly and swished my drink again. "Yeah, I know, not exactly the Bella you've come to know, right? But he had a way of dumping all his crap on her and she believed it. Bella's the caretaker type; she doesn't know how to not take care of the people in her life. When she tried to give him what he needed and he turned out to be a sucking black hole, she was at a bit of a loss. She has a good heart and he used it against her." I didn't even bother trying to keep the venom from my voice as I filled Jasper in on the wondrous monstrosity that was James.

"He must not have been too happy with you."

"No, he was not happy with any of us. When Renee and I pulled her into the bedroom to talk to her, Charlie stood outside the door with his hand on his gun and stared James down.

"James may be scum, but he wasn't stupid enough to take on Charlie that night. Bella was incoherent, and did nothing but apologize for the first half hour we were there. It crushed me to see her like that, and I swear, Jasper, I've never wanted to hurt a man as much as I did that night.

"Well more than I already had anyway." I laughed bitterly.

"Anyway, we slowly pulled the story out of her. She met James almost as soon as she started at her new company. Within a month, he had romanced her and won her over, talking her into flying with him to Vegas to marry him.

"He was her boss, that's how he convinced her not to tell any of us about him. He didn't want either of them to get in trouble or lose their jobs. He managed to get Bella working completely from home and monitored everything she did.

"He told her that after they were married, they could announce things properly. He told her that he was still worried. Since she was younger and had less seniority in the company, she had more prospects and she should be the one to leave her job. Because she wasn't working, he convinced her that she should help him with his projects. He took control of every part of her, piece by piece. He painted grand scenarios about how they would reveal their relationship and their working partnership in grandiose announcements. I'm sure you won't be shocked to find out those announcements never came. He kept putting it off for one reason or another.

"James honestly had her convinced that he was doing everything for the two of them, rather than for himself. She's a romantic, well, she used to be. She believed that marriage meant forever, and that there was such a thing as true love. I don't think she believes that anymore." I sighed sadly, remembering all the times I teased her for being such a softie and all her old fashioned romantic notions. I wished now that she still had them.

"It was just another thing he used against her. He convinced her that she was the reason he wasn't happy in their marriage. She wasn't trying hard enough. She even begged Renee to forgive her for letting her down, and pleaded with her not to be disappointed. Renee almost lost it at that point. Charlie had to have an officer take her outside before she tried to kill James herself.

"It didn't take long for Bella to see things more clearly once we got her away from James and started to talk some sense into her. She's not stupid. She understood what he did to her. We got a restraining order against him, but there wasn't much we could do in the way of pressing charges. He didn't do anything that was illegal. I don't think Charlie and Renee will ever completely forgive themselves for not stepping in sooner.

"They were worried about her, but they were trying to give her space. They thought that she was pulling away, like kids do when they leave home. She was making a life for herself, and they didn't want to crowd her." I frowned at the table as I traced the rings of water left by my drink. When I looked up again, Jasper's intense blue eyes were watching me with sadness and compassion.

"James wanted to press charges against me, though." I remembered his protests towards the officers that night. For the first time since this whole mess started, I laughed.

"Really? I'm guessing he changed his mind? Did Charlie 'persuade' him?"

"Nope!" I said trying to control my laughter. "As we were leaving with Bella, James went to one of the officers and demanded that he arrest me and press charges for assault. The officer wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on and he had James sized up in an instant. The officer got out his report book.

"'Alright sir, tell me exactly what happened when you were assaulted,' the officer said to him with complete professionalism.

"James, the master of manipulation that he thought he was, figured everything was well under his control, and started relaying his version of the assault. Of course he was the innocent victim and I was the big bad monster." I snorted.

"The officer nodded in all the right places and continued to take down James' story.

'Excuse me sir, how tall are you?' the officer asked him.

'6' 5'

'And how much do you weigh?'

'225 pounds'

"By this time James was starting to look confused. The officer turned to me.

'Ma'am how tall are you?'

'5' 1'

'And how much do you weigh ma'am, if you don't mind me asking.' He winked at me and I would have laughed if I wasn't still so pissed at James.

'105'

The officer turned back to James. 'So sir, you want me to put in writing that a hundred pound woman broke your jaw?'

"James looked like a tea kettle; I swear, I saw steam coming out of his ears. The only thing stronger than his anger at that point was his pride, and the officer knew it. Of course, he changed his mind on the charges and we all went home.

"So you actually broke his jaw?" Jasper asked and looked impressed again.

"Hell, yes. I moved up to BoJoDi in Taekwondo last year. Everyone looks at me and thinks I'm a petite little flower. It doesn't bother me, and I let them, but I can take care of myself if I need to." I looked up to see Jasper's stunned face and his mouth hanging open a little.

"Oh, sorry, um BoJoDi, it means I'm prepping for my 1st degree black belt."

"I know what it means. I'm just amazed."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I can give you a demonstration if you don't believe me." I was so used to people not taking me seriously that it rarely bothered me anymore, but I'd honestly expected more from him.

"Oh no, I believe you, you just… well I'm impressed. Let's leave it at that. But I may take you up on the demonstration when there's less alcohol involved." He took a long drink.

"At least one good thing came out of it all," I said as he looked at me quizzically.

"Esme," I stated. "She had her share of run-ins with James in the past. She knew his M.O., and when he tried blackballing Bella from the industry, Esme noticed and took Bella under her wing.

"Ironically, it's how all of this got started for us." I gestured vaguely in the direction of the hotel lobby.

Jasper warmed at Esme's name. "She's fantastic isn't she? She's too good to us. She mothers everyone the entire time we're touring. Believe it or not, the label is terrified of her. Apparently she can make them do practically anything she demands, but I've never heard her raise her voice. I think if we wanted to sleep on piles of feathers and shower in imported bottled water every day, she would make it happen."

"Yeah, I have no problem imagining that. She'd also probably manage to make them think that paying for it would be good for them, too."

"Precisely." He laughed with me. "So this stuff with James, was what three or four years ago? Was that the end of James?"

"Yeah, it's been just under four years. Between the restraining order and Charlie threatening to shoot him if he ever saw him on his property, James didn't have much choice but to leave Bella alone. Until today anyway."

"What happened today?"

"I'm not sure. She won't tell me yet. She just keeps insisting it was nothing. Which mostly likely means it was anything but."

I absentmindedly stirred my drink with a straw. I felt a lot better having unloaded all of this onto Jasper, but my ice cubes still refused to reveal any secrets of the universe. Tomorrow we were moving to the next city, but this leg of the tour was packed pretty tightly, and James could easily follow us for a decidedly uncomfortable amount of time. I was going to have to make some calls and see what he had been up to in the last few years. I sighed and almost wished my biggest problem was still being caught staring at Jaspers ass.

"Alice?" he said softly. I flinched as I realized that he'd been staring at me and that he chose this particular thought to interrupt.

"Sorry, I got lost for a minute there."

"I noticed. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, I think that's fair since I've been monopolizing the entire conversation since you got here."

"You mentioned something earlier that has me very curious."

"Okay," I said hesitantly, feeling suddenly exposed under the probing look that had come into his eyes.

"You said that you two were in the habit of not mixing business with personal stuff, and then you mentioned breaking one of your biggest rules. Why all the mystery? From the sound of it, you haven't left a string of murders or bank robberies in your wake."

Yep, he pretty much cut to the center of it. It was one of the reasons I was really starting to care for Jasper. He has such an unassuming and easy manner about him. You could easily think he skimmed over everything, but in reality he caught every nuance of a situation and carefully considered it. I had a feeling he was as used to being underestimated as I was.

After everything I shared tonight, there didn't seem like much point in trying to get out of the question. My mental walls were worn down by the stress of the day and reliving such an unpleasant time in my life. Keeping that careful distance Bella and I always worked to maintain was getting very difficult. It was a well practiced habit, however, and one that wouldn't be abandoned easily.

"Well, none that you know of anyway," I shot back with a wickedly playful smile as I did my best to pull off the weak dodge. It was all I could muster in my worn down state. He frowned and I sighed.

"Truth?" I asked tiredly.

"Please," he said seriously.

"You might think it's silly, but it's not easy to be female in this business. If someone isn't looking at you like a piece of meat or wondering who you slept with to get your job, they're treating you with kid gloves. Or they're mortified you're going to be traveling with them, and tampons and bras are suddenly every bit as bad as weapons of mass destruction. It doesn't matter than no one has to see them. Everyone just knows that they're there and they're dangerous."

Jasper snorted in amusement.

"And nothing, nothing can wreck a perfectly good working relationship like sexual tension or, god forbid, a one night stand. We've seen it happen many times. We're not stupid and we know all this so we carefully put on the image that we're one of the guys.

We're not prissy. I've participated in belching contests, you know. Bella has too, although I actually won one, but I had a secret weapon that night. I was drinking Guinness." Jasper seemed very entertained at that thought.

"Short of being able to write our names in the snow, we can keep up with the boys pretty well. We've never been with a tour this long, though, and I don't think we were quite prepared for how close everyone got. Usually, we have a couple of days to convince the band and crew that we won't be getting into catfights over the curling iron, and then we're home a couple of weeks after that. It's just easier to be one dimensional and keep it simple.

"I really didn't mean to offend you. We don't look at this as just another job. You really should know that. This has been the best group we've been with, and it's not like we can't be ourselves, old habits just die hard I guess," I finished lamely.

"I wasn't offended. I was just a little... taken aback, but now that you've explained, I do understand. I also happen to appreciate the fact that it's harder for women in this business, especially on the road. Good god, between bunk socks and female fans throwing themselves at anything male, I'm surprised you even bother with it."

"Don't even get me started on the whore core. They're not above offering services to anyone if they think it'll get them closer to the band," I said with a shudder.

"Whore core," he said thoughtfully, turning the phrase over in his mind, and then laughing. "I really like that one! Wait a minute. Are you saying that they…"

"Alright, this is where I say goodnight! These topics are best not explored when slightly buzzed and utterly exhausted," I said loudly and stood up quickly.

"More rules?"

"No, just common sense." I laughed.

"I'll walk with you. I need to head up, too."

We went up to our floor in silence. Even with my emotional and physical exhaustion, I could feel the energy buzz around us. Our eyes met through the reflection in the doors and he smiled brilliantly. I felt my stomach turn over nervously. On any other day I would have been jumping for joy and pushing boundaries, but tonight had just been too much, and I was shutting down.

We stepped out of the elevator and walked towards our rooms. As we approached, he put his hand on mine to stop me from opening the door and a jolt of excitement went up my spine. Apparently, my body wasn't onboard with the whole shutting down plan.

"Alice, Edward is really concerned about Bella. How much of what we discussed tonight can I tell him?"

I frowned and stared at his hand on mine. Bella really had nothing to be ashamed of. Even though I was very aware she would never have told the story herself, I was just as sure that neither of them would use it against her. I also knew that Edward would need some sort of explanation since he seemed to catch her mid-meltdown.

I looked up at Jasper and directly into his eyes, willing myself not to melt internally. "All of it. You guys do need to know. James didn't have a chance to try anything after we got Bella back, but he never struck me as particularly stable. There isn't much I'd put past him. Just try to keep it on a need to know basis. Like I said, she has no reason to be ashamed, but she wouldn't want everyone knowing." I steeled myself for what I had to say next. I didn't want to do him the disservice of questioning his intentions or Edward's, but Bella meant too much to me not to put it out there.

"Jasper, I like you, all of you. You're great people and I value all of our friendships. But you need to know that it won't stop me if Edward uses anything I told you to hurt her. I'll deal with him and anyone else if they hurt her…even you." I turned back to my room and went inside and finally gave in to my exhaustion by falling into bed fully clothed.

The next afternoon, I was in a cab and on my way to a local mall for our weekly stock up of tapes, batteries and film. Bella was back to being herself for the most part and had stayed behind to complete website updates and some expense reports. I knew she was putting on a good show and that eventually I would need to pull what happened out of her, but I wanted to give her some time to process it without me being on her back.

I was surprised at how well I'd slept last night. I had expected to be tossing and turning as my worry got the better of me, but talking everything out with Jasper really did help. Even if I was no closer to any solutions, he gave me an opportunity to get everything off my chest. I knew I explained to him what I meant by not wanting to mix business and personal stuff, and obviously I didn't take my own advice anyway, but I still felt guilty when I remembered the hurt on his face after I'd said it.

I decided that I needed to do something to show him how much I appreciated what he did. I also still felt a slight twinge of guilt at threatening them both, even though he probably thought I was joking. I needed a gift to cover all that, and by the time the cab dropped me off at the Mall, I had settled on just the thing. I consulted my list a final time before returning to the hotel. I left Jaspers gift at the front desk, under his room number, and happily returned to my room.

-==\\/==-

_Jasper POV_

I stood frozen as I watched Alice disappear into the dark hotel room she shared with Bella. I wasn't stunned at the threat. It had given me a swell of pride knowing that she was being protective of her sister. What had given me a cold chill was the fact that I knew she had meant it with every fiber of her being.

I wasn't a bar room brawler. I didn't go looking for fights, but I had been around enough to know when someone was talking shit and when they meant it. I had no doubt Alice intended to make good on what she'd said if she needed to. That, coupled with her martial arts knowledge, was enough to know this wasn't just an idle threat.

My mind wandered back to our conversation. I knew that she interpreted my reaction to her Taekwondo knowledge as disbelief, but that was probably better than the truth. In reality, I was stunned by the fact that having my ass kicked by her would be a huge turn on.

I sighed deeply and ran a hand through my hair. It was time to fill Edward in on everything; hopefully he wasn't climbing the walls yet. On my way to his room, I pondered the crap hands life sometimes dealt. Bella and Alice seemed like really good people to me, and they both had been sideswiped by shitty circumstances more than once.

I knocked lightly on the slight chance he was sleeping. The door opened quickly, and his face fell slightly. I knew I wasn't who he was hoping to see, but perhaps I could shed some light on things for him.

"Go sit down. I've been talking to Alice." Crossing the room, I began to raid his mini-bar. I took out a few various bottles, sure that in a few minutes he wouldn't care what he was drinking.

"That bad?" Edward said hesitantly.

"Yeah," I replied. Placing the bottles in front of him, I took a seat on the bed across the room and launched into the story starting at the same place Alice did. I quickly relayed their family circumstance and schooling. When I got to Alice slugging James, he'd downed the first bottle.

By the time I was finished the story about James, he had downed two more and was pacing angrily.

"I wish she'd broken more than his fucking jaw," he spat.

"I think she does too, especially after today."

Edward paled and took his seat again. "So what happened today then?"

"She doesn't know. Bella won't tell her yet. After Alice's explanation of what happened though, I don't think much needed to happen to set Bella off. I got the impression that they both thought he was history."

He exhaled forcefully and lowered his head into his hands. After a moment, he jumped up again. "So, what can I do? What can we do?" His eyes had a pleading look and I empathized with his helplessness.

"Nothing right now. She needs time. If Alice's reluctance was any measure, I doubt she's going to be thrilled that we even know."

He snorted. "Well that's just stupid."

"Think about it, man. Doesn't she strike you as a fairly private, self-reliant person? Someone who is used to taking care of everyone else rather than being taken care of? That first night we all went out together, before they even knew us, she was taking care of you when you passed out. On every level she's going to feel exposed and weak. Of course we're not going to think badly of her because of some manipulative asshole, but I don't think she sees it that way." I knew that I was better than your average male at reading emotional situations, but this whole thing was a no brainer.

Edward sighed and nodded, knowing that what I was saying made sense. He knew Bella better than I did, so deep down he already knew all of this, but he needed to be reminded when all he probably wanted to do was go comfort her.

I told him about the last part of my conversation with Alice then, about how they had always worked to keep themselves distant, and how hard they worked to put out the image of being just one of the guys. I saw that this clicked for him as much as it had for me.

"Remember when girls would to throw themselves at us and we could pick and choose? Man, I never thought I'd be wishing for that again," he said with a sigh, sinking back in his chair again.

"They still do, bro. We just don't notice them anymore because we don't want those girls," I said wryly. I'd got his sentiment though. It was a bitter irony that the two girls we'd decided to fall for seemed intent on keeping us out.

I shook my head and looked at the clock. "Fuck me. I'm crashing on the bus. I'm not waking up in two hours to haul my ass out there. We're supposed to leave early tomorrow."

Edward shook himself from his thoughts and agreed, saying he was going to grab a shower and make his way down after he'd packed up. I dragged myself back to my room thinking it had been a long time since I'd had a day feel this long.

-==\\/==-

I rolled out of my bunk and felt the disorientation of waking up in a different city than you went to sleep in. I hated sleeping while we were driving, but it was better than waking up halfway through to relocate.

I kicked Edward on the way out front and told him the time. We'd need to leave for the venue in an hour or so if we wanted to do sound check today. He was always a whiny bitch when he missed sound check. So was I for that matter, but I wasn't about to give him that one.

My thoughts drifted back to Alice. She had surprised me yet again last night. I was pretty good at sizing people up quickly. I could usually read them like books and was rarely taken off guard by anyone. Alice was consistently proving to be the exception to that, and since you couldn't figure one out without relating the other, Bella had proved to be a little bit of a mystery as well.

At first, I had Alice pegged as a good-natured, but somewhat scatterbrained assistant type. No doubt she did her job well, but it seemed that Bella was the one who had everything in line and kept Alice's tornado of energy where it needed to be.

As I watched them though, I saw that wasn't the case. Alice pulled Bella along just as much as Bella focused Alice. They worked together like two sides of the same coin. Bella's intensity brought attention to the details of a project while Alice's broad view made sure nothing was missed.

Still, last night I had seen something even deeper than all of that surface energy. I was quite sure at this point that the version of Alice the world got to see was very different than the one Bella and her family knew. When I saw her sitting at the bar, it was like catching a hummingbird at rest. She looked so preoccupied and so sad, I had to go to her and see if I could help.

I felt lucky to have finally seen that side of her. For the first time, I felt like I knew a little part of who Alice really was, and there was no denying that I was enthralled. She was thoughtful and calm and fiercely protective of her family. I also got to figure out why I was continually wrong about both her and Bella as I got to know them. They had carefully crafted shallow personas that they showed to everyone, and they were definitely experts at their parts.

I huffed in annoyance as I remembered her comment about not mixing business and personal. I may have understood their reasons, but it didn't stop the fact that it made me feel like they were treating us like typical oversexed musicians.

I stopped at the check-in desk to get my messages before going to my room to grab a quick shower. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my missed calls as the clerk checked.

"A woman left this for you about an hour ago," the young woman said cheerily as she handed me a box wrapped in black paper and a simple rich purple ribbon. There was a card attached. I took the box from her apprehensively and glanced around. There didn't seem to be any fans milling about, and if our hotel had been found, there definitely would have been.

I tucked the box under my arm, picked up my bag and headed for the elevators. When I got to my room, I tossed everything on the bed and took a closer look at the mystery box. I figured it was safest to start with the card. It was hard to hide anything too dangerous in a card. My battered psyche protested with memories of unsolicited Polaroid's that had been delivered in cards in the past. I shuddered and turned my attention back to the purple envelope.

_Jasper,_

_You were right. I needed a friend and a good talk._

_Thank you for both._

_I'm here to return the favor if you need it._

_A._

I smiled and unwrapped the package eagerly. I expected a shirt or some similar wardrobe enhancing item. Alice's love of fashion was never as much of a secret as she seemed to think it was, but she had good taste and I would probably love whatever she picked out.

I was wrong again though and wondered if she would ever stop surprising me as I ran my fingers over the wood grain of the box in front of me. I read the engraved plaque on the top:

_In case of emergency_

_Or personal crisis,_

_Open box and call_

_804-555-7389_

I open the box and laughed.

Inside was a bottle of rum, two cans of coke and two tumblers.

Yes, I definitely would be getting to know Alice better in the near future.

-==\\/==-


	12. Chapter Twelve: Moving Forward

Wow hey look, an update. Bet you'd given up on one of those!

I am sorry to anyone who was waiting for an update. Unfortunately it was unavoidable. Everything picked up over the summer and I had no time to do anything much outside of work.

On the upside, I have the next three chapters already fully written. The next is already with my first beta. So no update stalls for a while I hope.

Thank you to everyone who messaged me with questions or requests for updates. If I didn't get back to you I'm very sorry, I blame that work thing again!

Once again, feel free to make voodoo dolls of me beat me with rubber hoses etc.

My betas, LuluM and LouderThanSirens, are insanely busy as well, but they always seem to make time for me. My sincere thanks to them.

To all of my readers and reviews that are still with me, thank you. You give me warm fuzzies.

And finally, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. This plot is all mine.

-==\\/==-

_A quick summary of events thus far because the author is evil and left everyone hanging long enough to forget the story._

_Bella and Alice have been friends their entire lives and consider each other sisters. After Alice lost her family in a car accident at a young age, Bella's parents took her in and raised her like their own daughter. _

_They make a living touring with bands and gathering photos, video and other content to use on the web, in print, etc. The girls are currently on a dream assignment – touring the country with their favorite band, 'Midnight Sun.' After making a honest attempt to keep their interactions with the band strictly professional, Bella finds herself falling for the band's guitarist, Edward Masen, while Alice has her sights set on Jasper Whitlock, the lead singer. We been through some flirting, drunken groping and sexual tension from all parties._

_More recently, Edward and Jasper were left confused at an obviously shaken Bella and a very concerned and frightened Alice. Last chapter, Alice confessed to Jasper that Bella married right after leaving college and the relationship went bad quickly. Bella's ex-husband, James, is a very talented manipulator and became emotionally abusive toward Bella starting shortly after they were married. While Bella was only in the relationship for about a year, she still bears the psychological scars._

_Bella has been free of James for almost four years but he has made a sudden reappearance in Bella's life._

_Lots of nuances missed in this summary, but hopefully it's enough to jog your memory._

_And now, on to the new stuff!_

-==\\/==-

Chapter Twelve

Moving Forward

Laughter drifted into the quiet hallway as I neared their room yet again. This was the third time I'd walk down this hall on my "trip for ice." The cleaning lady was starting to give me funny looks. I stopped at their door and took a deep breath before knocking. Alice's laughter got louder as she approached.

"My ears are bleeding. Stop it!" she said from the other side of the door.

Alice found my rather puzzled face quite humorous as she fell into a fresh fit of giggles. Apparently, Bella thought this was directed at her because the next sound was her shouting from the bathroom.

"As long as you keep laughing at me, I'm going to keep singing. I promise you I can get much, much worse. I do a mean Jasper impression you know!"

Alice's eyes lit up with evil the Devil himself would have admired. She looked up at me and held a finger up to her lips.

"Actually, Edward just came to the door. He says that Jasper has been hinting at a vacation. He heard you from the hall and wants to know if you'll take over."

"Sure, but don't blame me if I convert all their fans and they forget Jasper forever. I am one sexy bitch after all."

"I'll make sure to outline the dangers to him."

"Yeah, I could hang out with a hot, sweaty and sometimes shirtless Edward and be paid for it. That would probably be the only thing that would top this job."

"Bella, you…"

"Oh and since he's here…Edward, I need someone to wash my back, you game?"

"Bella, stop."

Now, I knew that Alice had only meant to tease Bella a bit and not embarrass her horribly, but I couldn't help it. I could barely contain myself. "I could definitely handle soaping up a sexy bitch. That's about the only thing that could top _my_ job."

I heard the distinct sound of a bar of soap hitting the tub floor.

"Edward?" Bella's timid voice asked at a barely audible volume.

"Yes, Bella?" At this point, I would have sworn on a bible that her blush was actually visible from the hallway. With a strong blush like hers I would have been willing to bet it didn't stop at her face. I could imagine the path it would take all too clearly. The deep red color travelling down the soft curve of her neck then spreading out along her collarbones…

I shook my head to rid myself of that line of thinking, as pleasant as it was.

"I… uh… what are you doing here?" she called over the water.

"Does that mean the back washing offer is off the table?" I didn't have to work very hard to sound disappointed. I stared at the steam as it drifted out of the cracked open door that taunted me.

"Edward!"

I laughed knowing I would be paying for this at a later date if I took it much farther. "I stopped to invite you to breakfast. There's a nice place down the street here. I'd invite you too, Alice, but Jasper said you were going running with him."

She smiled slyly and I guessed that she knew I had every intention of getting a little time alone with Bella - run or no run.

Alice and I waited for Bella's reply but heard nothing except running water. I looked at the pixie with a raised eyebrow. She sighed and shook her head.

"Of course, Bella would _love _to go to breakfast with you, Edward. I'll send her to your room when she's ready."

Alice shooed me out and closed the door before I could hear Bella's reaction to Alice's acceptance on her behalf. I was pretty confident that Bella was attracted to me. I was still basking in the hot comment from moments before after all. I was also fairly sure that she was enjoying the chase and my attentions, but it still would have been nice to get a clear signal, when she was sober, at least once. I fully understood that her reluctance was a complex issue because of her history. It certainly wasn't helped by her embarrassment, but the silence that met my invitation was still like a bucket of ice water to my ego.

I had been pretty forthcoming on my interest so why couldn't she just be upfront about it? Bella was so hard to read, it was frustrating. She had all kinds of walls and defences to keep people out. She was friendly and warm and very caring towards others, but when it came to herself, she wouldn't let anyone take care of her, even just to rest her burdens on someone else's shoulders for a moment.

From what Jasper had said the night after James had unexpectedly shown up, even Alice and her family had to fight to get Bella to open up to them after what happened. I wondered if she understood how much she hurt them by shutting them out.

The maid shot me another suspicious look as I fumbled with my card. I scowled and she scurried away. Surely, I wasn't the only one who needed a long walk with my ice bucket at nine in the morning–_shit, I forgot the ice bucket_–ok so maybe the maid had some justification in being suspicious of me. I probably looked like a stalker or something. After tossing the card on the dresser, I fell back onto the large bed and lost myself in my musings.

Bella had been quiet the day after James showed up but that was the only sign that something was off, and she regrouped quickly. It had been almost a week since he made his appearance, and for all intents and purposes, Bella was back to normal...as long as you didn't look too closely. Of course, I watched her much more than closely.

Sometimes I would catch her as she stared off into space with a haunted look. I also noticed that whenever this would happen, she would push herself harder for the rest of the day, picking up any job that would keep her busy until she exhausted herself and finally turned in for the night.

I was positive that she was completely avoiding the whole James thing, but I wasn't sure if Alice was trying to get her to talk about it or not. Alice didn't share and I didn't ask. I still felt bad about having learned about Bella's past without her permission. I was glad I knew, and I understood Alice's reasoning, but it still felt wrong somehow. I would have rather Bella told me herself.

I wanted Bella to trust me and talk to _me_. I didn't want to have to spy on her and hear things second hand.

"Why can't anything ever be easy?" I muttered to the ceiling, not expecting the answer I got.

"Because if it was easy it wouldn't be worth it."

"What the fuck?" I said as I bolted upright to see Jasper come strolling out of my bathroom fully dressed and still drying his hair.

"Are you hiding in my bathroom on the off chance that you might have the opportunity to dispense sage advice? Because that's really creepy and very fucked up."

"No, my room had no hot water. Instead of having them move me I just said I'd use your room. We're leaving in a few hours, and I didn't have time for them to find another room. The sage advice thing just worked out nicely."

"Thanks, Obi-wan. Any other pearls of wisdom?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials."

"Great, now you sound like a fortune cookie. Why are you showering before you run?"

"Change of plans, Alice is taking me to a last minute press thing. Local radio had someone bail on them. Esme jumped on the chance to get us on air with the show tonight and everything. It's only a quick interview; you and Emmett don't have to come unless you want to."

I made a face.

He nodded. "Hence the reason I didn't bother to include you in the plan. Well, that and Alice said you and Bella were going to breakfast."

"Ya, Alice said Bella was going to breakfast with me too."

"I thought you were going to go ask her yourself?"

"I was...I did! She didn't..." I shook my head to clear the fog of uncertainty Bella always brought to my head. "It's a long story. Just get ready and go already. I thought you were in a hurry?"

Jasper shrugged and disappeared back into the bathroom.

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

"Stop dragging your feet, Bella. You wanted the man to soap up your naked body fifteen minutes ago, and now you're reluctant to share coffee with him?"

I felt my cheeks go bright red again at the memory. "You know very well why I don't want to see him right now."

Alice stopped abruptly and turned toward me. "I know you're not playing hard to get, but your signals are so mixed, Edward might as well be chasing after your Kitchen Aid. You're really hesitant and God knows you have enough reasons to be, but I've watched you trying over the last little while. You want this, and he seems like a really good guy. I think you should give him a chance. He's obviously head over heels for you. When you get scared, just remind yourself of one thing, Edward is not James."

I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment before I Alice's raised an eyebrow at me. She turned and continued to Jasper's room. She was right; I really wasn't playing hard to get with Edward. Honestly, I wasn't even all that hesitant about him. At least it wasn't anything I couldn't push through. What I was worried about was bringing him into my fucked up life. Now, with James showing up "fucked up" didn't even cover it anymore.

James never had a problem conjuring up imaginary boyfriends for me. I cringed to think how he would react to a real one. As angry as it made me to think that James still had any control over my life, was it right for me to put Edward in his path too?

Alice left me at Edward's door while she moved down the hall to Jasper's. I knocked and waited as my stomach practiced for Cirque du Soleil tryouts.

"Stop assaulting that lip, woman!" Alice called from three doors away.

I stuck my tongue out at her just as the door opened.

"It's definitely for you, Edward," Jasper said with a chuckle before he stuck his head into the hallway and waved Alice toward us.

"That's it! I think I should just go back to bed. The world is out to get me today," I muttered to my feet.

Edward chuckled and started toward the door. "Not before breakfast, you won't. I've already been denied one supreme pleasure today. I will not miss out on a meal too." He winked as he put an arm around my shoulders to comfort me. At least Jasper looked confused, so he must not know about the shower incident. I was sure that would be short lived however, since Alice would be filling him in on the morning's events less than a half a second after the door closed.

I dropped my head in my hands and gave up on saving face. "Alright let's get going then. Maybe I can set a record for most embarrassing moments in a single day! Good luck with the interview, Jasper."

Alice gave us a wave/shooing motion as she started to fill Jasper in on the interview details. I was reveling in the feel of Edward's arm around me. We hadn't really touched since our drunken make out session, and I was quickly realizing that my memory did him no justice. His scent intoxicated me even though it was something I couldn't quite pin down. It might have been his soap, his shampoo, his aftershave, or perhaps a mix of all three. It was divine and distinctly Edward. It worked like a salve on my overwrought nervous system.

"Do you want to walk? It's only a couple of blocks."

"Sure, I could use the exercise"

"Right, because you running all over hell's half acre every night really packs on the pounds."

"Well, I work for these slave drivers you see. I gotta keep up with the workload."

"You should definitely put in a complaint. I'm sure at least one of them would give the matter his full attention."

We reached the elevator and he removed his arm to push the button. It was all I could do not to sigh in disappointment at the loss of contact. As we left the hotel and walked down the quiet street, Alice's words echoed in my head. I didn't want to bring him into my mess of a life, but I certainly wasn't strong enough to be able to keep him out of it either.

All of the thoughts in my head were vying for attention. _What if he hurts me? What if I'm not good enough? What if everything James said was true? What if James comes back again? What if Edward gets in James way? _A million questions all running through my head._ What if, what if, what if, what if,_ over and over again until I was ready to explode.

Then, the one question that I hadn't been able to get out of my head for weeks silenced all the doubts and fear.

_What if it works?_

I reached over, took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. I pretended not to see his look of surprise or the shit eating grin that followed it as we continued on to the restaurant. It was a start, but I was still planning to talk to him about the problems I could cause in his life.

When we arrived, the leggy blonde waitress showed us to our seat and positively drooled over Edward. Unfortunately for her, he was far too intent on me to notice anything she did. After taking our drink orders, she left our menus and stalked off in a huff which caused me to smile.

"You haven't done that nearly enough in the last week you know."

My cheeks flushed and I looked at the menu while my mind raced for a way to start the conversation.

"I'm definitely going for the cheese and mushroom omelet," he said as he closed his menu.

"Sounds good, you can't go wrong with fungus in the morning."

As I closed my menu and handed it across to him, our eyes met and I was dazzled as he smiled at me. His eyes were the deepest shade of green I had ever seen outside of retouched photographs and they sparkled with his obvious happiness.

The waitress spoiled the moment by bringing us our drinks and taking our order.

We made polite conversation for a while, and I looked for an opportunity to steer the conversation towards all of the reasons that Edward should stay away from me. Unfortunately, there just isn't a polite segue for _I get that you like me, and I like you, but I'm an emotional wreck and my ex-husband will probably try to cut your balls off if he sees us together._

Now that would be a "Dear Abby" worth reading.

_Here goes nothing,_ I thought to myself as I realized that the only way to do this was to jump right into the deep end. "So, it was recently brought to my attention that I've been unfair to you."

"Unfair? How?"

"I was accused of giving off signals that were more mixed than a blender–I'm paraphrasing but that was the general idea."

Edward chuckled, but recovered quickly. "Well I won't deny that I've been having a little bit of difficulty sorting out your signals, but I think I'm doing ok. I haven't developed whiplash just yet.

"Given what happened in your last relationship, it's not like you don't have every reason to take things slowly, Bella. Besides, you're worth it." He shrugged and returned to fixing his coffee.

He stated this as fact with no hint of trying to play it up as a compliment. It was obvious that this was an accepted truth in his mind. The emotion welled up in my throat a little, and I pushed it down. The last thing I was going to do was cry and look _more_ vulnerable and in need of protecting.

Thankfully, the waitress arrived with our food, so I had a moment to collect myself before continuing.

"I…appreciate that, Edward, but before you decide if I'm worth the trouble or not, I want to tell you some things about my situation and what you're getting yourself involved in." He gave me an annoyed look, but I cut off his protest. "No, I need you to listen to this-really listen."

The slightly annoyed expression didn't leave his face. "Can I speak now?"

I sighed and nodded.

"I know you think you're all dark and twisted, but I'm a musician! Hell, I do dark and twisted for a living. I share a bus with Emmett more often than I get to sleep in my own bed. Do you know how many soul scarring things he subjects me to on a daily basis?" He smiled at me obviously trying to lighten the mood, but I glared back at him. "Fine, do your worst. I'll listen to anything you want, but you should know I don't scare easily."

"You eat, I'll talk."

He nodded, and took a bite of omelet, then looked up at me expectantly.

I took a deep breath. "Alice told you about James, the man I was married to?"

"I would hardly call him a man, but yes, Alice told Jasper and he told me. I still don't feel right about that by the way. I feel like I violated your privacy or something."

"No, it's okay. I mean it's hardly my proudest moment, but Alice made a judgment call and I don't fault her for it. She knows I'm not fond of rehashing that part of my life. A lot of her decision was based on trying to spare me from having to do it. We've already talked about it and I completely agree that you guys needed to know. It's a security issue now. James is a loose cannon to put it lightly, and I hate that I've brought him into your lives."

"I don't think you can hold yourself responsible for the actions of someone you haven't even seen in years."

"Edward, the simple fact is that if I wasn't here, he wouldn't be. So how does that not come back to me?"

He sighed deeply and thought for a moment. "If our positions were reversed, I'd probably feel as guilty as you do, so I can understand it. The thing that you have to remember is that no one blames you for his actions. You aren't responsible for the fact that he's a psycho stalker, and no one expects you to stop living your life and isolate yourself because of him. I'd deal with James any day of the week if it meant that I got to spend time with you."

I shook my head. "I don't think you understand him well enough."

"What did he say to you last week, Bella?"

I pushed bits of the omelet around on my plate, having lost my appetite the moment the conversation turned to James. "After our conversation that night, Alice and I did inventory on our gear. We realized we'd left some supplies that were needed in the hotel room. She went to get them by herself so I could finish up some last minute things." I sighed and let my mind wander back to that night as I related what happened.

I waved at Alice as she disappeared into the cab. There was plenty of time for her to make the trip. It was just an inconvenience. I smiled to myself, thinking about skipping out on the work I had planned and going to find Edward instead.

A hand rested on my shoulder and I whipped around with a huge smile certain that Edward had found me first. There were times when it seemed like he could read my mind.

The world around me started to spin, and my heart stopped. I felt myself stagger a bit as James reached out and put his hands on my arms to steady me.

"Isabelle, my darling."

"Ja…James?" I stuttered still in complete shock.

"Of course, my love. I've been waiting to see you for months, ever since I tracked you down."

"You tracked me down… but James, the divorce, the restraining orders, the cops," I said, trying to force myself past the numbness and make my brain work again. I needed to figure out what he wanted and why he was here.

"Well yes, that was all very painful, but your parents aren't here anymore. It's just you and me. We can run away together again."

"What?" A new wave of shock seemed to push the old one out of the way, and my brain kicked into gear. Could he really be this delusional?

"James, I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Not right now, but you will." He smiled.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because we're married. Because I love you. You love me. We have a connection Isabelle. You can't deny that by signing a piece of paper."

I shook my head and tried to figure out where he could possibly be getting this. "James, I thought I had made it fairly clear that I didn't want you in my life anymore. Usually divorce papers and restraining orders are not signs of affection."

"I know you had a lot of pressure on you to do those things. I'm not mad at you Isabelle. I know who was really behind them."

"_I _was behind them, James."

"No, that's not you talking, you'll see. Once all these distracting things are gone…" he waved a hand vaguely at the buses and the venue "…you'll remember where you belong."

I gaped at him once, again off balance, getting really sick of the feeling. "What do you mean once it's all gone? Do you think I'm going to quit my job or something?"

"No," he said sadly. "Of course, I hoped you would, but I see now that you're going to need some convincing."

"You can't convince me of that. I love my job. I love the people I'm working with."

"Ah, but my Isabelle, do they love you? Can they possibly love you like I do?" He stepped very close to me now and gripped my upper arms painfully. "You belong to me, Isabelle, and I will never let you go. I won't rest until you realize that. If I have to make everyone else's life hell to drive you back to me I will, because I know once you are with me again, you will remember what you are and where you belong."

He pulled me close and kissed me, forcing his tongue between my lips and onto my clenched teeth. He pulled back and smiled tenderly at me like we had just shared a passionate goodbye, then turned and walked away.

Coming back to the present, I noticed that I was absently rubbing the bruises he had left on my arm. I looked up and was startled to see Edward's face twisted with anger.

"If James shows his face again, I'll take care of the whole problem. He can't bother you if he can't walk." A twisted smile came across Edward's face and my stomach plummeted.

"No!" I said a bit too loudly causing the few other customers to look at us. "This is exactly what I was afraid of, Edward. James was dangerous when I knew him before, I can only imagine what he's been up to and I bet it didn't help his disposition.

"_I_ can deal with James. I know his games and how he works. None of that bothers me, but the thought of him hurting you or anyone else because of me makes me sick. If he even suspects we're together, I know he'll do something stupid. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." I felt a tear roll down my cheek and cursed at myself for never being able to keep my emotions in check.

Edward stood up and threw some money on the table before pulling me to my feet and wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He put an arm around me and led me outside. "First off, I understand that you're worried about everyone, but I can take care of myself and so can the other guys. I will not let some crazy asshole run my life for me. Surprisingly, nothing you said has made any difference whatsoever, so can we consider this conversation officially over?"

"On one condition: you have to promise me that you won't go after James next time you see him."

Edward exhaled forcefully with frustration. He removed his arm from my shoulder and stopped walking.

I turned to face him. "No, I need your word on this. Let me handle him my way. I don't want you getting involved."

"Fine."

I wasn't sure how much his reluctant agreement would mean if push came to shove, but I felt a little bit better about the situation. I smiled and lifted his arm up so I could duck back under it. We had made a lot of progress for one morning, and I definitely deserved to relax and enjoy this for a while.

-==\\/==-


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Downtime

Hello, my wonderful readers! Thank you for the reviews and wonderful feedback.

Although I should feel horrible for leaving you all hanging as long as I did before the last update, your enthusiasm has made me quite pleased with myself.

I blame this entirely on you, I hope you're all proud of yourselves!

I adore my betas. LuluM and LouderThanSirens, are the reason that you do not have to deal with missing letters (sometimes words), run on sentences and other crimes against the English language. They also lead a formidable chase for the elusive comma that sometimes abandons me.

Someone who I don't thank every chapter but is still an integral part of my creative process is Moon108. She is my sounding board, my pre-reader, and partner in crime.

As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. This plot is all mine.

-==\\/==-

Chapter Thirteen

Downtime

_Jasper POV_

I paced in the lobby and checked my watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. Alice hadn't known of course, but I had a surprise planned in place of our run this morning. Unfortunately, the interview bumped my scheme.

Ever since I'd seen the sign in the hotel lobby when we checked in last night, my excitement had been growing. I'd checked out the room at the first opportunity and got the permission to use it early this morning. The interview was made even more torturous by my anticipation. Alice promised me that she would change quickly and meet back down here. The elevator dinged, and I watched the doors impatiently.

"Alice, finally!"

She frowned. "What? I went right up and changed into my workout gear. Why are you so anxious to run all of a sudden?"

"We're not going running." She looked longingly toward the lobby doors and the beautiful day outside.

"I promise that it'll be worth it." I flashed my best smile.

Alice narrowed her eyes and nodded.

I lead her back to my discovery and opened the door proudly. I watched as she took in the large room covered in blue mats. Confusion crossed her face as she looked at me.

"The room is set up for a Self defence class the hotel is hosting. I thought we could use it. I want to spar with you," I explained.

"What? Jasper, no. That's not a good idea."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun. Don't worry. I have some training, too." I really hoped that I wouldn't have to stoop to taunting her, but I would. I was determined to see her in action.

Alice took a few moments to consider and finally agreed.

"If I break your nose or something, you're explaining it to Carlisle and Esme."

Alice took her shoes off and placed them neatly at the side of the mats and then moved to the center of the room. She started warming up, working through some different kicks and punches while I stretched. When I made an appreciative noise at a roundhouse kick, she smirked at me.

"Did you think I trained at the school that gave out belts for theory or something?"

"I was admiring your form," I said with complete and utter honesty.

"All right, if we're going to do this, let's get started. Are you absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely."

She came at me with a high punch that I blocked easily. I saw a trace of surprise cross her face, and her next punch was a little less restrained. She smiled when I blocked that one too. We circled each other for a while before she came at me again. Her attacks were faster now, with more confidence that she wouldn't have to stop herself before hurting me.

The first time I sent her to the mat, I almost fell over laughing. She looked so shocked and indignant.

"My trainers didn't give out belts for theory either." I chuckled and held out a hand to help her up.

She scowled at my offer off assistance, and then swung her legs up for momentum and jumped up from the floor looking determined. Before I could recover from my moment of smugness, she came at me with a flurry of kicks and punches. Alice certainly wasn't holding back anymore. I turned it around attacked as she blocked, and she did very well. Of course I wasn't exactly putting my all into it, but I was still enjoying myself.

We continued like this for a while. Alice was very good at assessing my style and exploiting weaknesses. She was a damn good fighter and landed more than a couple of solid hits on me.

"Okay, so you've definitely got a black belt. I can tell you're holding back on me," she grunted as she blocked a kick.

"Second degree," I said trying not to sound too pompous.

Alice took advantage of my momentary distraction and tried to land a punch. I grabbed her and threw her down, but she was quicker than I had planned. She managed to get a grip on me and trip me in such a way that I landed on top of her.

"Shit, Alice, are you…" I said as I placed my hands on the mat on either side of her head to take some of my weight off her. When she looked up at me, our eyes locked and I saw the fire behind hers. Suddenly everything clicked into place and my mouth was on hers before I had even thought about it.

Alice responded without a moment's hesitation. Her mouth opened and met my tongue greedily. Her hands threaded through my hair and held me to her. Any nagging thoughts that I may have made a mistake were quickly dissolved. Before I really understood how she did it, Alice flipped me over onto the mat and straddled my stomach. She quickly leaned down to regain the kiss.

I was completely entranced by the movements of her lips, her tongue and her body. Just as I was starting to enjoy the feel of her on me a little too much, she broke off and straightened up smiling at me.

Our first kiss had been completely unplanned, and it was definitely far more intense than I could have anticipated. Neither of us moved as unsaid words and emotions passed between us. I watched as she started to pull away and hide that vulnerable side of herself. The playful look came back across her face, and I watched in amazement as her masks changed before my eyes.

"Do you end all your sparring sessions that way?" she asked huskily.

"Yeah, Emmett hates it."

She snorted and jumped up, extending a hand to me.

"Well, we definitely have to do that again."

"The sparring or the kissing?" I asked as she walked toward the exit.

"Both," Alice said as she turned around. "And next time you're going to have to work a little harder for it too." Then, she winked at me and walked out the door.

I ran a hand through my hair as I exhaled. I was never one for making predictions, but I had a very strong feeling that things between Alice and I were going to get interesting.

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

"How was your run?" I asked without taking my eyes off my laptop.

I looked up to see her slide down the door and sit on the floor with a goofy grin on her face. Raising an eyebrow at her, I got up and sat on the floor directly in front of her. "Ok, Spill."

"Well, we didn't really get much of a run in, we checked out some of the hotel facilities instead," Alice said hesitantly.

"I'm gathering that there wasn't a whole lot of exercise going on between the two of you."

"On, no, there was exercise!"

My mouth fell open.

"Bella! Not like that! He found a room we could spar in. He's a second degree black belt, and sorta kicked my ass." She scowled.

"Ok, but I assume that ass kicking was not the source of that beaming smile and stunned look you walked in here with."

"Well…no…" I made an out-with-it motion and she let out a fake annoyed sigh. "We were sparring and he knocked me down, but I sorta took him down with me and he fell on top of me."

"Nice!"

"No, nice was when he start kissing me out of nowhere."

It's possible she may have squealed at this point and I may have squealed back. There may have been jumping and celebrations worthy of fourteen year olds, but as there were no recording devices present, no one will ever know because I'm certainly not going to tell.

Once we assumed our proper ages again, Alice was laying on her bed. The goofy grin was back on her face as she had just relived the entire kiss, having told me in far more detail than I thought was necessary.

"So what's the next move?" I asked as I fell onto my bed.

"Now? Now, the games begin."

I looked at her blankly.

"You're hopeless. Now I do everything I can to inspire lust in him so that he has to kiss me again."

"Well I imagine he _wants_ to kiss you again. Why do you have to tempt him?"

"Because that's the fun part! Seeing who gives in first."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Alice was back in her dreamland, or possibly plotting Jasper's torture, because she didn't respond. It's not that I wasn't fun or playful; I just wasn't one for games. What Alice was playing at seemed to have no point to me.

I got up from the bed and shrugged. "You can plot while we're driving to the next city. Right now you need to pack. We have to be out of here and on the bus in an hour."

She looked at the clock and swore before making a beeline for the shower. Forty-five minutes later, I was sitting at the table on the bus fighting with my computer again. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get a decent signal for the net.

Alice appeared on the stairs dragging her travel suitcase behind her.

"That's it, we're changing cell providers at the first chance we get," I complained as I willed myself to not throw my phone out the window.

"Yeah, their coverage sucks, I know. I've been meaning to mention that to you. Never mind about that now though. We have all day off tomorrow. Where are we going to go?"

"Alice, no. I have things to do tomorrow. I don't have time to go out. The video for the last show still needs to be cut and sent out to be posted. Honestly though, it's just editing and rendering. You don't really need to be there. We've already done the rough edits. Go out. Have a few drinks with the band. You know it's not really my scene," I said as I sorted through the rest of my files and figuring out what I could do without an internet connection.

Alice frowned at me, but was still being careful about pushing too hard. "Bella, come on, you need a break and you know it. Even if it's just the two of us, come out and get drunk. I know you've been doing well, but I think you really need to just cut loose."

"I'm fine, Alice, really. It was noth—"

The bus door opened and we both looked expectantly toward the stairs. "Bella, Alice, you guys in there?" Jasper's uncommonly serious sounding voice emanated from the stairs.

"Yeah, we're here. Come on up." I said, because Alice had suddenly broken out with a case of "big stupid grin" and was desperately trying to get it under control.

Jasper quickly came up the stairs and hovered near the entrance way. I tried to ignore the obvious unspoken conversation and tension that was shooting between Alice and Jasper. "So...did you need something Jasper?" I asked when I finally got tired of waiting.

He cleared his throat softly and reached overhead to stretch his arms out on the railing there. His shirt rode up, leaving a tantalizing view of his abs. I saw Alice twitch ever so slightly beside me.

_Ok, so maybe the games had a point, _I thought a as smirked at her.

"Yeah, tomorrow is an off day for you guys too right? No meetings?" he asked with far too much innocence. He had finished his gratuitous stretching and was leaning up against the partition.

I tried to speak up before Alice, but she was quicker and chimed in with, "Nope, nothing to do whatsoever."

I groaned and wondered if she'd actually paid him off.

"Alright then, we just had an impromptu meeting in our bus and decided that we're all heading out in the evening. It's Emmett's choice for destination, but rest assured there will be alcohol and we are _all_ drinking." He looked pointedly at me as he emphasized the all. I hid behind my laptop and became very interested in my work while muttering under my breath. I could actually _feel_ Alice's smug smile. I was just thinking that I would at least be able to get something done before we went out when he started again.

"I mean it. No work tomorrow, Bella. I know you two are used to hectic schedules and round the clock hours, but you've never done a tour like this before. You can't treat it like a race, it's a marathon. I don't want you two burning out on us."

I slumped down further and rolled my eyes at the screen.

"I saw that, Bella." Alice snickered and I shot her a glare. "You're still working for us remember… what we say goes. Alice, you'll tell me if she cheats?" I glared up at him and noticed that Alice wasn't the only one looking smug. This was definitely a conspiracy.

"Your wish is my command," she said and stood up to do a little curtsey.

His eyebrow raised just the slightest bit at that as he laughed and disappeared down the stairs.

"You two are going to be the sickeningly sweet type of couple. I can tell now."

Alice's only response was to stick her tongue out at me and disappear into the back lounge.

I spent most of the evening's bus ride plotting an escape from the day off tomorrow. I knew I didn't have a hope in hell of bailing on the night time outing, but if I played my cards right, I might be able to weasel my way out in the morning with my laptop for an hour or two.

-==\\/==-

Apparently I wasn't any better at cards than I was at sports. I contemplated how unfair it was that I should have such rotten luck as I watched a very exasperated Alice as she lectured me.

"Look, you can't sit here hiding in the back of the bus all day. We have today off. You're supposed to be relaxing! I knew the second I read your note you were planning this. I might have bought you going shopping, even if it was unlikely, but there is no way in hell that you'd ever go to a spa voluntarily." Alice smirked at me as she lazily draped herself across the couch cushions.

It had taken all of thirty minutes for her to find me, and she was probably sleeping for twenty of them. Sometimes I honestly wondered if she really was psychic. I had woken up early this morning and figured if I left her a note saying I was going to hit the hotel spa and maybe do a little browsing at the shops in the area, it might buy me an hour or two. I chose the bus as my hiding spot since most of the crew shunned them when a hotel was available. I realized now that I might have gotten away with it if not for the mention of the spa.

"Alice, I have photos to sort and send off for approval, video to edit and render, plus five blog posts to get up from the band. I don't have time to take time off!" I responded in a slightly manic pitch.

She narrowed her eyes at me in a way that I had long ago learned meant I was going to lose this battle spectacularly. "_We_ have many things to do, and _we_ will still have many things to do tomorrow regardless of whether you get spectacularly drunk tonight or not. You are not only a workaholic, you're a master of avoidance, and you seem to have forgotten the fact that I'm aware of this."

"No idea what you're talking about," I muttered.

"You're pulling away from everyone."

I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off.

"Ok, everyone except Edward, which by the way, it's about time! I thought the poor man was going to explode."

I smiled down at my fidgeting hands.

Alice's voice became more serious. "I just hope that the fact that I told them about James isn't causing this."

"No, Alice, we already talked about this and I told you, I understand. Hell, I'm grateful I didn't have to do it. I don't think Edward is ready to see blubbering Bella just yet."

I sighed and closed the laptop. "It's just hard not to fixate on James, Alice. He's not going to leave me alone. I could deal with that, but he's going to try something to get me fired. I know that it probably won't work, but if he made enough of a nuisance of himself would people still really be so forgiving?"

Alice sighed and moved to sit beside me, giving me a tight hug. "I know you don't want the speech again, but you need to hear some of it, so I'll give you the short version. What happened with him was not your fault and not your mess. He's the screwed up one, Bella, and it's not your fault you couldn't make him happy or fix him.

"The people that love you and care about you have no problem helping you or even just being there as a shoulder to cry on. You hurt them when you shut them out. We all care about you, and no one thinks any less of you for this. Now that they know what James is doing, it won't be easy for him to manipulate them."

"I just thought I was finally really moving on. This thing with Edward has me in knots and it's exciting. It's been a very long time since I've felt that way."

"Then you shouldn't let the fact that James is a fuckwad ruin it, Bella," she said seriously. "You can't control him, and you can't make him do what you want him to. You can control how you react to him though."

She squeezed me tightly again, smiled and stood up. "Now, back to business. Give me the laptop."

"Do I really look like I'm in the mood to go out and party, Alice?"

"Which is precisely why you need to! Perhaps you've forgotten that you're living a dream here? You're on the road with a band you love, doing what you love. You need to enjoy it!" Alice retorted in a patronizing voice.

"Just because I don't want to go get blindingly drunk at an overpriced bar…" I pointlessly attempted to argue before she continued as if I hadn't spoken.

"You're avoiding socializing and I've decided that you need to unwind. You're coming with us tonight. If you don't go shopping with me right now and get into the mood for some fun I'm marching right up to their rooms and getting Edward and Jasper to come down and talk you into it themselves." She smiled sweetly.

That was a low blow, adding Edward into the mix was even lower.

"You wouldn't." My eyes involuntarily widened at her in horror, hoping against hope that she really was joking.

She tapped her index finger to her lips a couple of times as she contemplated. "I could authorize Edward to tie you up if you protest. He'd probably really enjoy that."

I felt my face turn red as I struggled to come up with an appropriate response. Triumph played across Alice's face as I noted how evil she really was. Then I promptly remembered that I already knew exactly how evil she was, having used it to my advantage on many occasions.

"You know very well that I would. Shall I get my phone?" she said with that sickeningly sweet smile still pasted on her face.

"Fine! You know I love you, Alice, but there is a definite possibility that I may just kill you and leave you in some random truck stop dumpster on this tour." I started packing up my laptop and anything else that meant we were never out of touch from management, the label, or the band. With a quick look around to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I popped my cell in my pocket.

Alice started shaking her head and laughing her "I don't think so laugh" as I turned around and shot her a bewildered look. "No phone! No work today!"

I groaned. "Aw, come on, Alice. I need my phone. You know we can't be out of touch." I held onto my cell like a drowning woman clutching a life preserver as she tried to rip it from me.

"Day off, remember? No show, no interviews, no problems, and no emergencies," she trilled as she took my phone and ran into the front of the bus shouting, "you'll get it back in the morning."

I groaned again and followed her. By the time I got there, I realized she grabbed my laptop bag as well, and both had now disappeared into one of the many hiding spaces that tour buses were designed with. Alice was smiling saintly at me and I could have sworn I saw a halo.

I muttered again as she called a cab and dragged me off the bus. "How come you get to keep _your_ phone?" I realized there was probably a tad too much venom in my voice, but she knew how dependent I was on my phone. I felt like I was missing a limb.

"Because _I_ can have a phone in my possession for more than five minutes without breaking out in work. Esme knows where to find us if there's a real emergency with any of our stuff. Besides you're entirely too dependent on your phone," she answered sagely.

"Out of my head, woman!" I demanded.

We milled around in the hotel lobby while we waited for the cab. I liked this hotel. It was fancy enough that you could hope your bed wasn't covered in foreign DNA, but at the same time, you didn't have to tip everyone who lifted a finger for you. It's not that I was against tipping; I just wasn't one for being waited on. When it came to losing a tip, no one wanted to let you do anything for yourself.

It was a nice day to have off: bright, sunny, and warm. I would have been happy to find a pseudo-park with a bench that hotels like this one always seemed to have and stake my claim for the day to get caught up on some email. I sighed heavily. I hated shopping.

"You'd think I was taking you to face a firing squad, honestly. I promise to keep myself in check. We won't be too long," Alice shot at me.

I snorted.

"I just want to hit a couple of places; they're even all in the same mall! I promise four hours max!"

"_Four hours!_" I shrieked as the concierge shot a disapproving look at us. "Alice, I cannot follow you into shoe store after shoe store for four hours!"

"Only four shoe stores. The rest are clothes!" she sang.

"Oh. Perfect." I had a strong feeling a session of Bella Barbie dress up was in my near future. It was time for some damage control. I tried to take as much panic as I could out of my voice and took a deep breath. "Okay fine, two hours, two shoe stores, I try nothing on and when we get back I get my phone and laptop back." I put on my serious face.

She narrowed her eyes and prepared for the usual bargaining that preempted our shopping trips. "Three and a half hours, four shoe stores and you can check text messages."

"Ha! Nice try. Two and half hours, three shoe stores, no fashion show and I get to check my email."

"Hmmm. Three hours, three shoe stores, and you get a new outfit for tonight. You can check your voicemail and your email, but you can't respond. That's my final offer." She crossed her arms and nodded. When I didn't reply positively in what Alice considered a suitable amount of time, the halo popped back out again. Man, I would have liked to know where she kept that thing.

"I can always go up and tell Jasper you were working today. I wonder if Edward is hanging out in his room still?" she mused. "You know how clear he was yesterday that you take a day off for some downtime."

"Bitch!" I hissed.

Our voices had been getting colder, and by this point, we were glaring at each other. The concierge was doing his best to not watch us. I wasn't sure if he was hoping we'd take it elsewhere or he was excited at the thought of a full on cat fight.

Alice looked disgusted at me. "God, what's your damage, Heather?"

"Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?"

"Love you too, baby." She laughed. At which point she threw her arm around my shoulder and we fell into a fit of giggles.

We heard Emmett's loud playful laugh and realized he'd been watching the whole scene play out from the foot of the stairs.

"Alice, I think you and Rosalie could be very good friends. Bella's better at negotiating than me though; I always end up going to all the shoe stores. Anyway, I know how my Rose likes to know where we're going so she can plan what she's wearing and stuff. We'll be going to a club, loud music, drinking, dancing. It's gonna be a blast."

I groaned and he smiled wider. "I picked it just for you, Bella. Jasper said you were under orders to come so you couldn't back out. He told me to pick somewhere that you'd have fun."

"Thanks, nice to know absolutely everyone is in on the plot. Should I expect Carlisle to pop out and tie me up for a pedicure before the day is over?" I muttered.

"By the way, Heathers, completely awesome." Emmett gave us a thumbs up and we howled as he sprang back up the stairs shouting, "I love my dead gay son!"

-==\\/==-

Two hours and fifty nine minutes later, Alice was calling the cab to take us and our spoils home. I gave Alice a hard time about her shopping fetish, but the truth was my wardrobe had always benefitted from her attention. If left to my own devices, I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. Okay, okay, I was a sweats and t-shirt kind of gal whenever I could get away with it. Alice had, for the most part, managed to beat it into my head that _I don't need to look like a slob to be comfortable!_ I was not however above slips and she knew better than to demand anything above sweats when I was home.

She tried to throw them all out on me once. The neighbors ended up calling the police who were less than amused when they found us in the hall of the dorm collapsed on each other and laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. I'd honestly thought they were only a few minutes away from calling an ambulance to take us in for a 72 hours psych eval when we managed to stop laughing long enough to talk. The sweats survived though.

My wardrobe was in good shape, and I hoped that I could get out of buying anything, but as promised, she had insisted that I needed something to new wear tonight. I settled on a simple black dress that I liked despite the fact that it was indeed a dress. When I complained about the fact that the fitted top had no straps, Alice had looked greatly pained, but agreed that I could have something over it and promptly found a fantastic deep blue shirt that shimmered in the light. It was made of a light material and I could wear it as a shirt or open as a light jacket. I liked it so much that I even agreed to the heels she picked out for me.

For herself, Alice chose a pleated skirt in school girl plaid. When she picked out the black corset for a top, I figured that Jasper was in for a long night. Then she found the boots. They were knee high black vinyl.

"You're trying to kill Jasper aren't you?" I said to her.

She smiled wickedly and nodded. "Do you think he'll like them?"

"We can use the word like if that's what you're comfortable with." I replied, laughing.

When we got back to the hotel, Alice made me take the bags up to the room and wait while she retrieved my laptop and cell. She must have found a good hiding spot she didn't want to lose. I cursed to myself knowing that this was not going to be the last time I had my work gear confiscated on me.

"You've got fifteen minutes while I shower, and then we're getting dressed. I passed the guys in the hall. They're going to dinner at seven. We'll meet them at the club around eight thirty."

"We're not going to dinner with them?" I kicked myself when I realized that my disappointment had leaked into my voice.

She smiled and I knew she'd heard it. "You've come a long way from not even wanting to go."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"No, we're not going to dinner. We're going to stay here and make ourselves fabulous. Now did you want to check your messages?" Alice said as she handed over my equipment.

I grabbed at the electronics like a junkie getting a long overdue hit. I hugged my laptop case and twirled cooing, "I missed you baby."

She sighed loudly as she walked past me toward the bathroom. "You need help."

I was speed reading the last of my emails when Alice came out of fifteen minutes later, wrapped in a towel and snapped my laptop shut. "Go shower. You stink!"

"I do not! It's Eau du bus. People pay good money for a musk like this!" I said haughtily which sent Alice into a fit of giggles. I made my way in for a long hot shower which was surely to be followed by a night the guys would not soon forget if Alice had anything to say about it.

-==\\/==-


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Night Out

Beta love to LuluM and LouderThanSirens, who put up with my abuse of the rules of grammar and punctuation.

Another author summed up her experience with her betas perfectly and I shall shamelessly steal it…

"Any errors in this tale are mine, and mine alone. (They call it proper comma usage – I call it artistic license. See what they're up against?)" Chicklette – Of Kith and Kin (great story you should read it. Twilight AH B/E).

So, this chapter is the club. I owe a special thanks to Moon108 for this one. She's actually pulled this little stunt off–in real life–in PUBLIC! Personally I'm shy enough that I'm surprised I could even come up with the scenario for the story!

Comments, criticisms, death threats and questions all welcome!

As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. This plot is all mine.

-==\\/==-

Chapter Fourteen

Night Out

_Edward POV_

The club was hot, sweaty, and very loud. This definitely wasn't my usual type of place, but it was Emmett's turn to pick, and since we had practically kidnapped Bella to get her out for some fun, I wasn't about to bail. I was disappointed when Jasper told us they wouldn't be joining us for dinner. He had said that he thought Alice was up to something, and I spent most of the night distracted, wondering what it was.

Jasper was watching the entrance of the club as closely as I was, and Emmett had laughed at us more than once. To his credit, he really could have raked us over the coals for all the times we'd given him shit about Rosalie, but he just seemed excited and happy for us.

"Holy shit!" I heard Emmett exclaim and whipped around to where he was looking. _Holy shit_ didn't even begin to cover it. I felt my jaw fall open as I stared at the two women walking our way.

Bella was in a very short and very tight black dress. It looked like it had been tailored to her body. I realized that with the jeans and shirts she usually wore I had never properly appreciated how fantastic her body actually was.

I had never seen her in heels before either and the ones she had on made her legs look extremely long. The dress hugged her hips tightly, leading up to a corset like top complete with laces. She had the kind of cleavage you could dive into. I whimpered quietly and adjusted myself in my chair.

I heard Jasper inhale quickly at the same time Alice became visible behind Bella.

"Oh, fuck me. Knee high fuck me boots? She's trying to fucking kill me," Jasper muttered in a pained voice from his side of the table.

She was definitely trying to do something to him. The boots were only the start, I'm sure once he recovered he'd notice the school-girl skirt. Another whimper from his direction told me that he'd caught up.

Emmett looked at us and laughed loudly. "Tonight is going to be so much fun!" He slapped us both on the back and welcomed Bella and Alice as they strode up.

We had a few drinks, and the evening was getting to a great start even if Jasper and I both had to actively work to keep our hands to ourselves. We were both giving off a "they're with us" vibe because Bella and Alice were too fucking hot for their own good.

It seemed like every male in the place had asked them to dance at least once. Alice took it in stride, but dismissed them politely. Much to my relief and amusement, Bella looked more frustrated as the night went on.

"Good god, you two are worse than a porch light on a southern night. I can't believe I ever thought you two were…well you know," Emmett said with some astonishment.

Alice laughed loudly. "Oh don't feel bad, Emmett. If we really wanted to, we could make every guy in the place think we were raging lesbians. Ninety nine percent of them would be probably be terrified to approach us as well."

"Well sure, even I'm not that stupid, all you have to do is start groping each other," he said as though it was perfectly obvious.

I choked on my drink, but thankfully everyone ignored me.

"Well, that would take care of the lesbian part," she said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Bella rolled her eyes and sighed at this. Without a word she got up and walked over to the bar. I saw her make an order and down a shot before returning to the table with four more.

"Thirsty?" I asked, puzzled by her sudden alcohol consumption.

She smiled and shook her head at me before putting two shots in front of Alice and keeping two for herself. She sat down and did them both immediately. I shot her another quizzical and slightly alarmed look.

She leaned over to me. "I'm going to need it, you'll see."

I turned to Jasper who look equally baffled and shrugged. Alice and Emmett's conversation came back to me over the music.

"Fine, prove it." He smiled, obviously thinking she was bluffing.

"Do you doubt we can?" she asked seriously.

A calculating look crossed Emmett's face. It was fairly obvious that he didn't put much past Alice, but he certainly wanted to know what she was up to. She was playing him like a fiddle. He probably knew that too, but he didn't care.

"No kissing," he said while his brow furrowed.

"We'll barely touch," Alice smiled angelically back at him.

"And you're not going to do something stupid like strip?"

Bella fell into a fit of hysterics at this.

"Okay I guess not," he muttered. "Fine, you manage it, and I'll be you girls' personal roadie for a full week."

"Alright and if we don't we'll give all three of you a lap dance." Alice shot right back at him. I think I heard Bella mumble, "Oh fuck me."

Emmett smacked his hand on the table. "Hell yeah, you're on!"

Alice downed a shot and left the table, threading her way to the DJ.

Everyone turned to look at Bella who took in our three faces, reached over for Alice's spare drink and downed it nervously.

"As a wise man once said to me, if you take any pictures of this, you're fair game." She stood up and turned her back on our astonished faces.

Bella made her way over to Alice who had placed herself close to our table, but in a very visible part of the dance floor. The song that was playing faded out, and a new one began. It was a funky fast beat that almost sounded like a modern pop song. At the first notes, the girls started to simply sway back and forth with the beat.

For a brief moment, I thought that they were just fucking with us and there would be no "provocative show." That was until the first lyrics of their chosen song began. Three jaws hit the table in rapid succession and I knew we were in trouble.

_I wanna see your pussy  
Everybody says it's nice  
Can I come and visit?  
I'll be at your house tonight  
They tell me it's soft to touch and really smooth  
I can hardly wait to feel that pussy too_

I looked over at Jasper and Emmett to see that they were having the same reaction as I was. Looking back to the girls, my mouth went dry. They had progressed to grinding on each others' legs.

"Holy Hell," I groaned, not really sure if I'd said it out loud or not.

Bella had both of her hands buried deep within her long brown hair and was swaying and gyrating against Alice's right thigh. On the other side, Alice was a mirror image and seductively moving to the beat against Bella's leg. They both looked like they had done this before and that was perfectly fine by me.

I had to adjust myself again as my thoughts wandered. I pictured myself taking Alice's place, grinding my own hips against Bella's. The way she moved was just too sexy for words and every motion kept me mesmerized. The song began to speed up as it moved into the chorus.

As the music sped up so, did the girls. Suddenly they were all hands and hips. They looked as if they really were lovers and knew each other's bodies intimately even though, as Alice had promised, they had barely touched. I couldn't look away.

_I wanna see your pussy, show it to me  
Let me see your pussy, show it to me  
Show me your pussy, show it to me  
I want to pet your pussy, show it to me_

The beat increased, and the girls got closer to one another. They skimmed their hands up and down their own torsos while continuing to gyrate against each other. All the motion was causing both of their skirts to ride up, far enough to give us an even more tantalizing glimpse of their milky white thighs.

They ran their hands up their bodies again and began palming their breasts. I heard a whimper from my left and glanced toward Jasper. I had to elbow him in the ribs so that he'd remove his hands from his lap. The last thing we needed was for him to get busted for public indecency after rubbing one off in a club.

I turned back to watch the show only to groan, "Oh fuck me sideways, she's flexible!" Bella had both of her hands vigorously palming her breasts while leaning so far back I thought for sure her hair would touch the ground. Alice's hands were on Bella's waist to help support her while they both continued to move their hips together.

I had to readjust my growing erection as my mind filled with thoughts of all the possible positions that her flexibility would allow. As if she could read my mind, she looked over at me and took one hand off her breast and glided it down her body to the apex of her thighs. I couldn't tell if she was really touching herself or just miming, either way I about came in my pants when she winked at me.

I could have sworn that she had mouthed 'Oh Edward' before she moved her hand back up to her chest. She stood back up and turned back to her partner in crime. I knew that somehow, this was about to get hotter.

Alice took one of her legs clad with the "knee high black fuck me boots" as Jasper was calling them, wrapped it around Bella's hip and threw her head back. They both started moving, and if they had been a man and woman, you would have sworn they were fucking right in the middle of the dance floor. They were pink and flushed from the dancing, but at that moment, a look of sheer ecstasy crossed both faces, and I was almost convinced they both just climaxed.

I heard a thud beside me and assumed that Jasper's head had just hit the table. I would have looked, but was more concerned with the mess I thought I'd just made in my pants.

_I wanna see your pussy, show it to me  
Let me see your pussy, show it to me  
Show me your pussy, show it to me  
I want to pet your pussy, show it to me_

As the last chorus rang through the club the girls began to slow down their movements, and soon they were back to the easy swaying they started out with. They ended their show with a hug and a chaste kiss on each other's cheek. Alice and Bella then came strolling back up to our table holding hands as if nothing had happened out there.

Emmett decided to make his presence known as he jumped up and started clapping. "Wow, you girls could have auditioned for a porno with that dance! Alice, you win. It'll be worth carting around all your shit for a week to have seen that."

The girls took a small bow and sat back down at the table. Alice fanned herself and said, "Damn, I need a drink." She frowned in Jasper's direction. "What's wrong with him?"

I looked at my friend who still had his head on the table, mumbling. I knew I had to try to save him because I wasn't far behind. I also knew that if Bella had those boots on, I would be in the exact same position.

"I think he just needs another drink, too. I'll go to get the next round." I carefully extracted myself from the table, doing my best to hide the obvious bulge in my jeans, and made my escape to the bar as quickly as possible. I shook my head and wondered how many drinks Jasper and I would need to calm our now frazzled nerves.

-==\\/==-

_Bella POV_

A few hours later, I was walking outside the hotel with Edward. He'd insisted on stopping at a store on the way home from the club. Alice and I didn't think any of them would be able to take the sight of Alice on my lap in those boots anyway, so Edward and I took one cab while the three of them went straight back to the hotel in another.

There was an all night convenience store a couple of blocks from the hotel, so we had the cab let us out there. I was currently walking in my bare feet and carrying my heels as Edward continued to fight with the gum package he'd been wrangling with for the last block and a half.

"Are you sure you don't want me to open that for you?"

"No," he grunted. "This is a matter of honor now."

I snickered and he shot me a scowl. He was very, very, drunk. After our dance, their alcohol consumption had increased greatly. Alice and I had known what our little show would do to them. What we hadn't considered was what it would do to us. When I looked up to see Edward staring at me like he was ready to screw me into the dance floor, I got as worked up as the bulge in his pants showed him to be. Alice was very happy that her fuck me boots had done their job too. I laughed again.

"Are you laughing at me in my moment of distress?"

"No, I was laughing at… something Alice said." I sighed and snatched the gum package from him, opened it quickly and handed it back. I wasn't completely sure he'd even seen me do it.

"You weren't laughing at Alice."

I smiled and changed the topic knowing his drunken brain wouldn't be able to follow. "Thank you"

"What for?"

"For dragging me out tonight. I know you all had a part in it. I had more fun than I've had on a night out since…well, our last drinking extravaganza." I winked at him.

A devious light came into his eyes then. "Yeah, you and Alice both looked like you had a good time tonight."

"You liked our little show did you?"

"I would tell you how much I liked it, but it would be ungentlemanly."

I snickered.

"I don't suppose you'd care to give me a private lesson tonight? I promise I'm a quick study. We can use my room!" he said hopefully.

I snorted. "Wow, you wouldn't mind? You're a prince! Somehow though, I don't think that it would be a good idea to be in your room tonight. You've have had way too much to drink, and I'm not exactly sober either."

We were at the hotel now and he held the door for me.

"Hmm, but if neither of us is sober than neither of us can take advantage of the other right?"

His drunken reasoning almost made sense to me which reinforced the fact that I was right.

"Nope," I chimed and stepped into the elevator. He followed and looked deep in thought, I assumed he was trying to figure out more drunk logic to get me back to his room.

"Edward, you're going to hurt your brain. We will not be sleeping in the same room tonight."

"Who said anything about sleeping?"

"Because you have a grand history of being able to hold your liquor." I giggled as he scowled at me yet again. We had reached our floor and were walking down the hall to our rooms.

"I thought you said you wouldn't come back to my room." Edward swore as he tried unlocking the door to my room with his key card.

I pointed him to the room across the hall. "No, Edward dear, I said I wouldn't go back into your room. I'm just making sure you get here safely, you're rather drunk. Besides, my room is right there. I kind of have to go to yours to get to mine."

"I'm hurt you know, women like my room."

"Yes, I'm sure it's a very nice room, but like I said, you're very drunk. I'd rather not be there in the morning when you've forgotten that you invited me."

He seemed to think about this. In his current state it looked like a lot of work. "Oh I don't think I could forget inviting you to my bed, Bella."

"That would have been very convincing if you didn't slur your way through it. Why do you only try to get me into bed when you're drunk?" I frowned.

"Why do _you_ only try to get _me_ into bed when you're drunk?" he asked smugly.

"I…well…that's different."

"It is?"

"I am not going to discuss this with you right now. You're drunk!" I managed to sputter as I wondered how I'd lost control of this conversation.

"You started it." He crossed his arms and shrugged, but made no move to go into his room.

I bit my lip nervously and hoped another subject change would work. "Go to bed, Edward. You have a show tomorrow. Tell you what, if you go to bed now then I promise that I will go out with you wherever you like if you still think that's a good plan when you're sober."

"Deal," he said as he smiled wickedly and closed the door.

I sighed yet again and turned back for my room.

Alice was already getting ready for bed when I came in. She took one looka t me and frowned. "Uh oh, I know that look, you're moping."

"I am not moping. I'm thinking."

"That's worse. It's less dangerous when you mope."

I flopped down on my bed. "Do you ever wonder how long we can get away with this?"

"Get away with what?"

"This fantastic job, hanging out with rock stars, and travelling all over the country. Meeting all the people we get to meet. Sometimes I think we're too lucky and it can't last. It has to come crashing down sooner or later."

"You know, I like happy drunk Bella much more than thoughtful drunk Bella. Bring her back."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I want him, I really, really want him."

"So what's stopping you?"

I flopped down on the bed and snorted. "What isn't stopping us?"

"Well the only thing that I see stopping you two is your brain. One of these times, it'll all come together, and it will be better without all the alcohol."

"I need to stop drinking or stop being around Edward when he drinks…I think I should just adopt a no alcohol in my presence rule."

"Good luck with that." She laughed at me.

I stood up and watched her peel off her boots. "You know, you really are going to kill Jasper if you wear those boots again."

She laughed wickedly. "They were spectacular weren't they?"

"So, why aren't you in Jasper's room tonight anyway?" I sang as she flopped down onto her bed.

"Bella, I'm shocked. Do you think I'm that easy?"

"Yes, I read it on the bathroom wall. The wall never lies," I said solemnly and then ducked to avoid the pillow she sent flying at me.

-==\\/==-

I'm not usually one for quoting lyrics unless they really tie into the narrative. I felt this was one of those times.

For those unfamiliar with Lords of Acid, you can hear Pussy on YouTube (www . youtube . com/watch?v=-2RykBWW7k0&feature=related). That is one of their more tame songs. LoA are defiantely not for the faint hearted ;-)


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